Largest Asteroid Ever Tracked To Pass By Earth Just 11 Days After Solar Eclipse
Only 11 days after today's total solar eclipse the world will be treated to another astronomical display. The largest tracked asteroid will fly by Earth, providing amateur and professional astronomers another reason to look to the sky. The weeks surrounding the American solar eclipse and fly by of asteroid Florence have offered publicity, education, and support for our space agencies, astrophysics, and astronomy. The asteroid Florence will safely pass by Earth on September 1st, 2017 at a distance of approximately 4.4 million miles from Earth. To put this in perspective, the 2.7-mile wide asteroid will pass by at 18 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Florence is the largest asteroid tracked by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory meaning this is a great opportunity for NASA to monitor and study the asteroid in greater detail than before. “While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence will on September 1, all of thos...