More on the Recent Asteroid Flybys

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Asteroid 2024 MK captured by NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar. (NASA, JPL-Caltech)

Remember asteroid 2024 MK from last Saturday? Well, NASA has some nice shots (shown above) of the asteroid as it made it close approach to the Earth. It shows the 500 foot-wide asteroid in all of its scary glory. We were lucky to be nothing but observers that day.

Another asteroid that shot by the Earth on June 27th at a distance that was about 17 time the distance between the Earth and the Moon was asteroid UL21. This asteroid was not a surprise, having been spotted back in 2011. However, it had a surprise when viewed up close. The asteroid had its own moon (shown below).

I’m impressed we have these amazing images, but if they price for these images is a risky rendezvous then I can live without them.

Note: Another asteroid is coming our way next week – asteroid 2024 MT1. The asteroid is 260 feet in diameter and will be come much closer than UL21, or about four times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Image (Credit): Asteroid UL21 captured by NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar. You can see its moon as the small speck at the bottom of the image. (NASA, JPL-Caltech)