alienation news

Asteroid Will Miss By A Whisker

An asteroid is heading in Earth's direction and is expected to come within spitting distance - in space terms.
Known as 2003 JD11, it measures 45 to 95 metres in diameter, and is travelling at nearly 15 kilometres a second.
Auckland's Stardome Observatory says while technically the asteroid's voyage is considered an astronomical near-miss, it will, in fact, be about three million kilometres away.
Spokesman Warren Hurley says a close watch is being kept on the space visitor, but it will be nine times further away than the moon, so there is no chance of being hit by it.
An bigger asteroid, due in July, will come a lot closer.