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"It isn't just the sun's radiation storm getting all up in Earth's face this week. An asteroid the size of a school bus, discovered mere days ago, came about five times closer to us than the moon Friday.\nThe good news is an asteroid that size would have burned up in the Earth's atmosphere. The bad news is there are still plenty of larger near-Earth rocks we haven't discovered yet \u2014 and we may not discover them until they come flying at us. \nAsteroid 2012 BX34, after all, had plenty of company. It was the 873rd space rock detected by NASA in the last two weeks. Only in the last couple of days did we discover that its orbit would bring it within one-fifth of the distance between here and the moon \u2014 which is just what happened at 10 a.m. EST Friday. In cosmic terms, that's a hair's breadth. (Check it out in the video below.)\nHad 2012 BX 34 been larger \u2014 the size of a mountain, say \u2014 gravity may well have put it on a collision course with our planet. At that scale, given mere days to prepare, we may have been looking at a Deep Impact-style scenario. We can only hope that the next civilization-ending rock we detect isn't quite so keen to meet us. \nSuddenly, President Obama's priority for NASA in the next 10 years \u2014 to land astronauts on an asteroid \u2014 makes a lot more sense. Not only are there trillions of dollars in mineral wealth in those rocks, but the more we get to know them, the better we can detect and deflect their orbits. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[via Space.com]\nBonus: 23 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts for Astronomy Lovers\n\n\nSpace Tweets: 23 Must-Follow Twitter Accounts for Astronomy Lovers\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. @NASA\n\nA convenient feed for all things NASA, including launch news, astronaut updates, space discoveries and interactive media.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. @nasa_astronauts\n\nA handy little tool to keep track of NASA astronauts in one convenient Twitter feed.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. @Astro_Ron\n\nOne of the astronauts currently tweeting from space, with hashtag #fromspace.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. @Astro_Satoshi\n\nAnother astronaut currently in space, Satoshi's tweets keep you on the edge of your seat: \"It\u2019s been the one got closest to ISS ever. The relative speed was 13km/second.If it hit ISS, it would have been a disaster with holes on ISS.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. @Astro_Mike\n\nThe first astronaut to tweet from space, Mike Massimino tweets like a regular guy despite his orbital credentials.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. @Astro_Naoko\n\nShe tweets mostly in Japanese, but translate astronaut Naoko Yamazaki's feed to hear about her experiences logging over 362 hours in space.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. @Astro_Nicole\n\nAstronaut Nicole Stott presents her space perspective with photos like this.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. @Astro_Soichi\n\nAstronaut Soichi Noguchi plays guessing games with his space twitpics.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. @ClaraMoskowitz\n\nSpace.com writer Clara Moskowitz lets her geeky space enthusiasm shine brightly!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. @garrettlisi\n\nPhysicist and thrill-seeker Garrett Lisi does motocross and gets \"lifted to a hundred feet by a crane, and rappelled from the sixth floor window of a fire crisped building.\" Oh, and he also tweets about space.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n11. @ProfBrianCox\n\nA research fellow in the particle physics department at the University of Manchester, Brian Cox applies political and economic spin to space travel.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n12. @badastronomer\n\nSnarky tweeter and astronomer Phil Plait petitions for Congressional funding for space exploration.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n13. @neiltyson\n\nAstrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson gets snarky about the state and funding of space exploration today.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n14. @michiokaku\n\nBest-selling author and physicist Michio Kaku shares blog posts from his own wealth of knowledge.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n15. @astronomymag\n\nAstronomy Magazine publishes a great collection of space news and entertainment. Plus they tweet about \"zombie stars.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n16. @SETIInstitute\n\nThe institute poses cutting-edge theories and arguments for the prospect of contacting extra terrestrial life.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n17. @SPACEdotcom\n\nSpace.com is a go-to source for space news - very comprehensive!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n18. @chandraxray\n\nPart of Chandra's mission is to study black holes - let's hope it doesn't get sucked into another Twitter dimension!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n19. @NASA_Hubble\n\nThe good ol' Hubble telescope tweets charming and poignant pictures.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n20. @CassiniSaturn\n\nIf you like it, then put a ring on it. The Cassini spacecraft gathers stunning data and images of Saturn's rings, moons and storms.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n21. @NASAVoyager\n\nThis feed posts occasional updates fom NASA\u2019s twin Voyager 1 &amp; 2 spacecraft.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n22. @AsteroidWatch\n\nNASA's official Asteroid Watch on Twitter tracks the celestial bodies as they near earth, and provides photos and videos of their paths across the sky. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n23. @NASAWebbTelescp\n\nAlthough it's looking at a 2018 launch date, this feed includes preparations and building procedures for the future Webb Telescope.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, loops7"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/01/27/asteroid-narrowly-misses-earth/>