Double Dose of Meteor and Asteroid!

On February 15th 2013, two extraordinary events happened. One of which was expected, and one which caught many people off guard.

The expected event was the pass by from an asteroid closer than any of its size before. The asteroid, which was about half the size of a football field, came within 27, 000 kilometers of the Earth around 2:30 PM. This distance was also closer than many communication satellites currently orbiting Earth. No satellites were hit, and the event came and went with no problems or concerns. The fly by provided with an excellent chance for scientists to study and observe the rotation, size and trajectory of the big space rock.

However, the event which stole the spotlight from this extraordinary historical event, was something that nobody was expecting. In eastern Russia a meteor streaked across the sky and exploded in the Earth's atmosphere causing damage to thousands of buildings and injuring some people.

This blast is the biggest in over a century according to some, which is an historical event in its own right. It is reported that this event is not linked in any way to the flyby of the asteroid which happened on the same day. The meteor is believed to come from asteroid belt which is in between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.


This unexpected event has some worried. Scientists say that the meteor was not foreseen because of it's small size, however some were under the impression that all imminent threats to the Earth from celestial bodies were known of. It just goes to show how unprepared and at the mercy of the cosmos we really are.