This radar image of 2007 TU24 was obtained on 28 January 2008
This radar image of 2007 TU24 was obtained on 28 January 2008, about 12 hours before the asteroid's 1.4-lunar-distance pass by the Earth. The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Greenbank Telescope in West Virginia were used to take this image. (c) NASA/JPL
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Asteroid 2007 TU24 zooms by Earth

Science Centric | 30 January 2008 09:28 GMT
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As expected, asteroid 2007 TU24 made its closest approach to Earth at 12:33 AM yesterday, 29 January, and is now headed away from our planet. At its closest point, the asteroid was 554,209 kilometres (344,370 miles) from Earth, or roughly 1.4 times the distance between the moon and Earth.

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. had tracked the asteroid in advance and determined that there was no possibility of an impact. The rare close approach is providing a bonanza for scientists, who plan to scrutinise images and data gathered in hopes of learning more about our solar system's closest neighbours - near-Earth asteroids. More observations are planned for 1 February through 4 using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The observatory is operated by Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., for the National Science Foundation.

Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA

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