QG 42

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QG 42 is a near earth object, an asteroid, that made a relatively close approach to planet Earth on September 13, 2012.[1] The asteroid's closest approach was 7.5 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.

The asteroid is much smaller than the extinction class asteroid scientists have theorized killed off the dinosaurs, but it is much larger than the objec that is believed to have caused the 1908 Tunguska event.[2][3][4]

The object did not pose a threat during its 2012 approach, but it is listed as a "potentially hazardous asteroid".[2]

References

  1. Asteroid flies by Earth Thursday evening, CBS News, 2012-09-13. “Asteroid 2012 QG42 is between 625 feet to 1,400 feet wide (190 to 430 meters) and was first spotted by scientists last month. Researchers say the space rock has no chance of hitting Earth this week when it makes its closest approach on Thursday.”
  2. 2.0 2.1 Karen Kaplan. Watch online as asteroid PHA 2012 QG42 brushes by Earth tonight, Los Angeles Time, 2012-09-13. “Though it will not hit us this time around, it could be on a collision course with our planet in the distant future. Such impacts have happened before – in 1908, a meteoroid entered the atmosphere over Siberia in an event known as the Tunguska impact. When scientists first investigated the site 19 years later, they found “eight hundred square miles of remote forest had been ripped asunder. Eighty million trees were on their sides, lying in a radial pattern,” according to this feature on NASA’s website.”
  3. 2012 QG42 se acerca 'peligrosamente' a la Tierra, Gaceta, 2012-09-05. “El propio observatorio asegura que las posibilidades de que un asteoride así colisione con nuestro planeta causando una catastrofe son muy pocas. El evento de Tunguska, en Siberia (1908) y el evento del mediterraneo oriental en 2002 han sido las dos últimas ocasiones en las que un asteroide considerado peligroso ha llegado a colisionar con la Tierra.”
  4. Tiểu hành tinh khổng lồ bay ngang qua Trái Đất, Zing, 2012-09-13. “Những vụ va chạm như vậy từng xảy ra trước đây vào năm 1908 khi một thiên thạch đi vào bầu khí quyển vùng Siberia trong một sự kiện được gọi là vụ va chạm Tunguska.”