Asteroid Watch - 2002 CU11

2002 CU11 is a potentially hazardous asteroid discovered by the LINEAR survey in 2002. It's exact size is not yet known, but is somewhere between about half a km and 1.3 km in diameter. At the time it was discovered in 2002 there was about a 1 in 9300 chance that it would hit earth in 2049. The impact of such a large asteroid at such a high velocity would create an explosion of about 53,000 megatons. Such a blast would make a complex crater (with a central peak like what you see in large craters on the moon) about 14 km wide. The heat from the fireball would instantly burn anything for hundreds of km's around it. Definitely doomy.

Continued observations of the asteroid ruled out the impact later that year, but this year it makes a close pass by earth. This will be the closest pass it will make prior to 2049, and in fact we now know that this pass will be much closer than the one in 2049. On August 30th it will pass earth at 13.5 times the distance to the moon. It's not the closest pass we'll have this year, but it's still an interesting one from a fairly large NEO that could really do some damage if it were to hit earth. I'll be webcasting this object on the morning of August 29th or 30th depending on the weather. Stay tuned for more details.