Scientists say the world has been 'lucky' no asteroids have crashed into the earth in recent years.(Reuters: NASA)
From ABC News (Australia):
Astronomers have calling for more funding to watch southern skies, after an asteroid took sky-gazers by surprise and entered the earth's atmosphere over Africa yesterday.
Yesterday morning astronomers in Arizona reported seeing a tiny asteroid, which they described as a new but routine fast-moving object.
Before long, scientists at the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center (MPC) in Massachusetts had calculated the object was likely to pass within one Earth's radius of the centre of the planet.
That means it would have struck the surface of the Earth if had been big enough.
Gareth Williams, associate director of the MPC, spoke to AM shortly before the asteroid entered the earth's atmosphere.
"We estimate that it's about two metres across with a probable range of one to five metres. Something that small will not survive passage through the atmosphere intact," he predicted.
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