Mark your calendars for an impressive and upcoming flyby of an asteroid that’s one of the larger potentially perilous space rocks in the heavens – in terms of smacking the Earth in the future.
It’s the case of asteroid 2005 YU55, a round mini-world that is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) in diameter. In early November, this asteroid will approach Earth within a scant 0.85 lunar distances. [Photo of Asteroid 2005 YU55]
If not for Jupiter, the Earth would be getting smacked by asteroids with some regularity. In fact, if Jupiter was a typical gas giant, it would have sucked the Earth up a few billion years ago.
But our solar system is an entirely atypical planetary formation mainly because of its circular orbits. See, "Solar System Is Pretty Special, According To New Computer Simulation."
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