POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS! Asteroid 2000 EM26 zipping by Earth on close approach on MONDAY- CLARA ROVIRA

 ASTEROID 2000 EM26 ZIPPING BY EARTH ON CLOSE APPROACH ON MONDAY

On February 17th a near-Earth asteroid (NEA), 2000 EM26, with an estimated diameter of three football fields (270 meters) and traveling at approximately 27,000 mph (12.37 km/s), will come racing by Earth on its close approach. This is a subtle reminder of the dangers of asteroid impacts just one year after two historic events took place on February 15, 2013

Slooh will cover NEA 2000 EM26, a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA), as it makes its closest approach on Monday, February 17th. Viewers can watch free on Slooh website. The live image stream will be accompanied by discussions led by Slooh host and astronomer Bob Berman, Slooh technical director Paul Cox, and special guest Dr. Mark Boslough, an expert on planetary impacts and global catastrophes and frequent participant on many science TV documentaries. Viewers can ask questions during the show by using hashtag #asteroid.

Slooh routinely tracks potentially hazardous objects (both asteroids and comets) whose sizes are large enough, and whose orbits take them near enough to our planet, that they have the potential to cause significant damage in the event of an impact. Slooh's live broadcasts have attracted millions of viewers, and Slooh has become a leading voice to help ensure that public awareness does not wane. Since 2008, Slooh has covered numerous asteroids as they've made their close approaches to Earth, including asteroids 2012 LZ1, Toutatis, and Apophis. Slooh's work in this area was recognized in 2013 when NASA invited Slooh to participate in the NASA Asteroid Grand Challenge. Slooh members continue to track and monitor NEAs every night, helping to determine their accurate orbits and impact risk.

Slooh's technical and research director, Paul Cox says: "We continue to discover these potentially hazardous asteroids—sometimes only days before they make their close approaches to Earth. Slooh's asteroid research campaign is gathering momentum with Slooh members using the Slooh robotic telescopes to monitor this huge population of potentially hazardous space rocks. We need to find them before they find us!"

Slooh will cover NEA 2000 EM26, a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA), as it makes its closest approach on Monday, February 17th, starting at 6 pm PST / 9 pm EST / 02:00 UTC (2/18) live from the Canary Islands. Viewers can watch free on Slooh.com or by downloading the Slooh iPad app. The live image stream will be accompanied by discussions led by Slooh host and astronomer Bob Berman, Slooh technical director Paul Cox, and special guest Dr. Mark Boslough, an expert on planetary impacts and global catastrophes and frequent participant on many

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-02-potentially-hazardous-asteroid-em26-earth.html#jCp