SKYVIEWS @ :13-:17 TOP LEFT SEARCHING FOR ASTEROID 2012 BX34 JANUARY 27, 2012

Updated 22 May, 2013, 9:27 pm IST

Friday January 27 10:52 pm

SKYVIEWS @ :13-:17 TOP LEFT SEARCHING FOR ASTEROID 2012 BX34 JANUARY 27, 2012

CFHT Cloud Cam Time Lapse Sunset to Sunrise January 26-27, 2012 BEST ENJOYED ON FULL SCREEN.... ASTEROID FLYBY Newly-discovered asteroid 2012 BX34 is flying past Earth today only 77,000 km (0.2 lunar distances) away. There is no danger of a collision with the 14-meter wide space rock. Advanced amateur astronomers might be able to observe the flyby as the bus-sized asteroid brightens to 14th magnitude just before closest approach on Jan. 27th at 1530 UT. Named 2012 BX34, this 14 meter space rock will skim Earth less than 60,000 km (37,000 miles, .0004 AU), at around 15 30 UTC, (10:30 am EST) according to the Minor Planet Center. The latest estimates have this small bus-sized asteroid it traveling at about about 8,900 meters/second (about 20,000 miles per hour). 2012 BX34 has been observed by the Catalina Sky Survey and the Mt. Lemmon Survey in Arizona, and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory in New Mexico, so its orbit is well defined and there is no risk of impact to Earth. This story was updated at 1 02 p.m. ET. A small asteroid the size of a city bus zoomed between Earth and the moon's orbit Friday (Jan. 27) just days after its discovery, but it never posed a threat to our planet, NASA says. The asteroid 2012 BX34 passed within 36,750 miles (59,044 kilometers) of Earth when it made its closest approach at 10 30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT). The space rock is about 37 feet (11 meters) wide and would have broken apart in Earth's atmosphere long before it reached the ground, if it had reached the planet at all, NASA scientists said. The space rock passed Earth at a distance that is only about 0.17 times that between the Earth and the moon. For comparison, the moon typically orbits Earth at a distance of about 240,000 miles (386,000 km). "Asteroids this small are hard to spot, & luckily they pose the least concern," Asteroid Watch scientists explained. "Our goal is to find the bigger ones. "Asteroid 2012 BX34 was the second space rock to fly relatively close by Earth this week, Asteroid Watch scientists said. On Jan. 23, another small asteroid — called 2012 BS1 — passed by the planet at a range of about 745,000 miles (1.2 million km), which is about 3.1 times the Earth-moon distance. "Asteroid 2012 BS1 is so small (about 7 meters) it would disintegrate in our atmosphere if it were to come close to Earth," the Asteroid Watch team wrote. Astronomers with NASA and other science teams routinely scan the skies in search of near-Earth asteroids that could pose a danger to the planet. Experts estimate that asteroids about 460 feet (140 m) across and bigger can cause widespread devastation near their impact sites, though a larger space rock would be required to cause destruction on a global scale. This story was updated to reflect the correct date of the Jan. 27 asteroid flyby. January 26, 2012 The crescent Moon and the dazzling "evening star" stand high in the west-southwest as night falls this evening. Venus, the evening star, is to the lower left of the Moon. January 27, 2012 Leo, the lion, springs into the evening sky this month. Its brightest star, Regulus, rises around 7 30 or 8 p.m., with the body of the lion following over the next couple of hours. Denebola, the star that marks its tail, rises around 10 p.m. January 28, 2012 The big dog trots across the southern sky on winter nights — the constellation Canis Major. It is escorted by the little dog, Canis Minor, which is to the upper left of the big dog in early evening, marked by its brightest star, Procyon. January 29, 2012 The brightest star in the night sky has some teeth to it. It's the Dog Star, Sirius, which is part of Canis Major, the big dog. Sirius is well up in the southeast by mid evening, with most of the other stars of Canis Major stretching below it. UPDATE TODAY 1-27-2012 - A massive solar flare — the strongest one so far this year — erupted today (Jan. 27) from the same active region of the sun that triggered a raging solar tempest earlier this week. The solar flare was rated an X1.7-class eruption, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). X-class flares are the most powerful type of solar storm, with M-class storms falling within the mid-range, and C-class flares being the weakest. Several spacecraft, including NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Solar Heliospheric Observatory, observed the solar eruption, which occurred at 1 37 p.m. EST (1837 GMT). The flare unleashed a wave of charged particles, called a coronal mass ejection, but space weather experts said it was not aimed at Earth. Audio :Phil Thornton In Search Of Avalon spaceweather.com spaceref.com strictlyhonest.com stardate.org space.com