January 25, 2008 Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in Pasadena, Calif., have obtained the first images of asteroid
2007 TU24 using high-resolution radar data. The data indicate
the asteroid is somewhat asymmetrical in shape, with a diameter
roughly 250 meters (800 feet) in size. Asteroid 2007 TU24 will
pass within 1.4 lunar distances, or 538,000 kilometers (334,000
miles), of Earth on Jan. 29 at 12:33 a.m. Pacific time (3:33
a.m. Eastern time). "With these first radar observations
finished, we can guarantee that next week's 1.4-lunar-distance
approach is the closest until at least the end of the next
century," said Steve Ostro, JPL astronomer and principal
investigator for the project. "It is also the asteroid's closest
Earth approach for more than 2,000 years." Scientists at NASA's
Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL have determined that
there is no possibility of an impact with Earth in the
foreseeable future. Asteroid 2007 TU24 was discovered by the
NASA-sponsored Catalina Sky Survey on Oc