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science16h ago
A City-Killer Asteroid Just Passed Shockingly Close to Earth, and Scientists Barely Saw It Coming
- A bus-sized asteroid, 2026 JH2, passed within 56,000 miles of Earth, about a quarter of the Moon's distance.
- Scientists said there was no chance of impact, but warnings arrived only days before approach.
- Observatories in Arizona, Kansas, and New Mexico detected the asteroid days before it passed by Earth.
- Experts compare JH2 to the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor in size and potential impact risk.
- NASA’s overall message notes that space rocks pass through our neighborhood regularly, with varying warning times.
- Researchers noted that the 2026 JH2 event is not considered rare in the context of near-Earth object flybys this year.
- Experts say a city-killer could be diverted with deflection technology if detected in time.
- The event prompted reflection on whether we have enough runway to act if trajectories were different.
- The report notes 73 known asteroids will pass within one lunar distance of Earth in 2026.
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