March 17, 2009 PASADENA, Calif. – A small asteroid will fly past
Earth early tomorrow morning (Wed., March 18). The asteroid,
2009 FH, is about 50 feet (15 meters) wide. Its closest approach
to Earth will occur at 5:17 a.m. PDT (8:17 a.m. EDT, 12:17 UTC)
at an altitude of about 49,000 miles (79,000 kilometers). "This
asteroid flyby will be a good viewing opportunity for both
professional and amateur astronomers," said Don Yeomans of the
Near-Earth Object Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif. "The asteroid poses no risk of impact to Earth
now or for the foreseeable future." NASA detects and tracks
asteroids and comets passing close to Earth. The Near Earth
Object Observation Program, commonly called "Spaceguard," plots
the orbits of these objects to determine if any could be
potentially hazardous to our planet. For more information,
visit: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ Media contact: DC Agle/JPL