[meteorite-list] Asteroid 2009 DD45 Buzzes Earth

[Ron Baalke]

Space Weather News for March 2, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

ASTEROID FLYBY: There's no danger of a collision, but 
newly-discovered asteroid 2009 DD45 will come close enough 
today when it flies by our planet 72,000 km (0.00048 AU) 
away.  That's only twice the height of a geostationary 
communications satellite.  The asteroid measures 30 to 
40 meters across, similar in size to the Tunguska 
impactor of 1908.  Closest approach occurs at 
approximately 1340 UT (5:40 am PST) on March 2nd.  
Experienced amateur astronomers may be able to 
photograph the space rock shining like an 11th 
magnitude star as it races through the constellations 
Hydra and Virgo.  The timing favors observers in Hawaii, 
Australia, New Zealand, Japan and east Asia. Visit 
http://spaceweather.com for updates and ephemerides.