Asteroids, Comets and Meteors
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4.5Bil BPÂ Â Â A meteor of this age,
named the Canyon Diablo meteorite, was later held by the Smithsonian
Institute.
   (SJSVB, 9/9/96, p.14A)
3.26Bil BCÂ Â Â An asteroid at least 23 miles wide hit
Earth about this time triggering global earthquakes and tsunamis
across all the world’s oceans. Scientists in 2014 reported that
ancient rocks in the Barberton Greenstone of East Africa indicated
this to have been one of the most powerful events to ever shape the
face of Earth.
   (SFC, 4/10/14, p.D1)
254.7Mil BCÂ Â Â In 2012 scientists dated the 40km
Araguainha crater, on the border of Brazil’s Mato Grosso and Goias
states, to this time. They believed that the release of oil and gas
from the impact of a meteorite led to the great Permian extinction.
   (Econ, 7/27/13, p.64)
160Mil BCÂ Â Â A collision likely occurred in the
asteroid belt orbiting the sun about 100 million miles from Earth.
One of these asteroids was later named Baptistina. In 2007 US and
Czech researchers used computer simulations to calculate that there
was a 90 percent probability that the collision of two asteroids,
one about 105 miles wide and one about 40 miles wide, was the event
that precipitated the Earthly disaster of 65Mil BC, when an asteroid
hit the Earth on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. They said another
fragment likely created the Tycho crater on the moon at about 110Mil
BC.
   (Reuters, 9/5/07)(SFC, 9/6/07, p.A14)(Econ,
9/8/07, p.81)
66.038Mil BCÂ Â Â About this time a comet struck the
area of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula and created a crater, known
today as Chicxulub, about 150-180 miles (200 km) in diameter. The
area at this time was covered by ocean. The asteroid was initially
believed to have been 6-12 miles (10 km) in diameter. It left a thin
layer of iridium in rock strata around the world. Evidence for this
was gathered by Luis Alvarez. The asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs,
about 80% of the world’s plants species and all animals bigger than
a cat. In 2002 it also was estimated to have wiped out 55-60% of the
plant-eating insects. A high oxygen level may have contributed to a
worldwide firestorm. In 1997 Walter Alvarez published "T. Rex and
the Crater of Doom," an account of this critical event. The impact
was estimated at 5 billion times greater than the atomic bombs of WW
II. In 2007 US and Czech researchers used computer simulations to
calculate that there was a 90 percent probability that the collision
of two asteroids in 160 Mil BC was the event that precipitated the
Chicxulub disaster. In 2008 new research using an osmium isotope
indicated that the responsible asteroid was about 2.5 miles wide. In
2013 scientists said this date was accurate to give or take 11,000
years.
   (SFC, 2/18/96, p.A3)(SFEC, 8/17/97, BR p.7)(NH,
9/97, p.85)(SFC, 2/25/02, p.A4)(WSJ, 3/2/04, p.B1)(Reuters,
9/5/07)(SFC, 4/12/08, p.A4)(SFC, 2/8/13, p.A1)
50000BCÂ Â Â Arizona’s Barringer Crater was created
about this time by a meteor. Named after mining engineer Daniel
Barringer, it measures 3/4 of a mile wide and 640 feet deep and is
suspected to have resulted from a meteor of about 100 feet in
diameter. An iron meteor 100 feet in diameter and weighing about
60,000 tons crashed into the desert at about 45,000 miles per hour
near Winslow, Az. A crater 4,000 feet wide and 570 feet deep was
created. 85% of it melted and the rest broke into bits called Canyon
Diablo meteorites.
   (SFC, 7/2/99,
p.A7)(www.barringercrater.com/science/)
3000BC-2800BCÂ Â Â The Burckle Crater, an undersea
crater, formed during this period by a very large scale comet or
meteorite impact event. It is located to the east of Madagascar and
west of Western Australia in the southern Indian ocean and is
estimated to be about 30 km (18 mi) in diameter. In 2006 the
Holocene Impact Working Group believed that it was created when a
comet impacted in the ocean, and that enormous megatsunamis created
the dune formations which later allowed the crater to be
pin-pointed. As not only the Bible, but other ancient writings from
various cultures make reference to a 'great flood', it is
hypothesized that these legends are associated with this event.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burckle_Crater)
36CEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Ancient Chinese records
recorded an August meteor shower that was later assumed to be the
Perseids. The meteorites originated when the Swift-Tuttle comet
passed so close to the sun that its ice head melted and left a
stream of pea-sized particles.
   (SFC, 8/11/99, p.A2)
66CEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Jan 26, The 5th recorded
perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
   (MC, 1/26/02)
141Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, The 6th recorded
perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
   (MC, 3/20/02)
607Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, The 12th recorded
passage of Halley's Comet occurred.
   (HN, 3/13/98)
760Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, The 14th recorded
perihelion passage of Halley's Comet occurred.
   (MC, 5/22/02)
837Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, Best view of
Halley's Comet in 2000 years.
   (MC, 4/13/02)
1061Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Halley's Comet
inspired an English monk to predict that England would be destroyed.
   (MC, 4/24/02)
1066Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, The 18th recorded
perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
   (SS, 3/23/02)
1490-1491Â Â Â Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
astronomers reported a bright comet for 48 nights during the
mid-winter weeks of these 2 years. An Italian astronomer again saw
its sunlit debris in 1825 and it became known as the Quadrantid
meteor shower. It was later cataloged as 2003EH_1. In 2003 it was
related to a star explosion over 500 million earlier.
   (SFC, 12/31/03, p.A2)
1492Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, A meteorite landed
in Ensisheim, Germany. Emperor Maximilian visited Ensisheim 15 days
after the fall and ordered that the Ensisheim meteorite be preserved
in the local church. A piece of the stone was put up for auction in
2007.
   (www.meteorite.fr/en/basics/history.htm)(Econ,
10/27/07, p.96)
1673Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, Edmund Halley
entered Queen's College, Oxford, as an undergraduate.
   (MC, 7/24/02)
1676Â Â Â Â Â Â Geminiamo Montanari,
Italian astronomer, documented a meteor with a sound “like the
rattling of a great Cart running over Stones.” It was later
understood that meteors can detectable generate radio waves.
   (NH, 7/02, p.38)
1679Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 3, A great panic
occurred in Europe over the close approach of a comet.
   (MC, 11/3/01)
1682Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, English astronomer
Edmund Halley saw his namesake comet.
   (MC, 9/4/01)
1794Â Â Â Â Â Â Ernst Chladni, German
scientist, proposed that meteorites were masses of iron-rich
extraterrestrial rock, which occasionally penetrated the earth’s
atmosphere to strike the surface.
   (ON, 7/02, p.5)
1801Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, Giuseppi Piazzi
(d.1826), Italian astronomer, discovered an asteroid orbiting
between Mars and Jupiter. He believed it to be a planet and named it
Ceres, after the Roman goddess of the harvest. Ceres was later
measured to be about 974km in diameter, roughly the length of Great
Britain and 1% the mass of Earth’s moon.
   (NH, 7/02, p.36)(Econ., 2/28/15, p.70)
1802Â Â Â Â Â Â Edward Howard, English
chemist, determined that the iron in meteorites was a unique blend
of iron and nickel that did not occur in known terrestrial rocks.
   (ON, 7/02, p.5)
1802Â Â Â Â Â Â Heinrich Olbers, German
astronomer, discovered an asteroid orbiting between Mars and
Jupiter, He believed it to be a planet and named it Pallas after
Pallas Athena (goddess of wisdom and war).
   (NH, 7/02, p.36)
1803Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, Villagers of
L’Aigle, France, witnessed a meteor shower. The rocks helped to
convince scientists that meteors were of extraterrestrial origin.
   (ON, 7/02, p.5)
1807Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 14, A number of
meteorites fell onto Weston, Connecticut.
   (Econ, 12/23/06, p.122)
1811Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, A comet, dubbed
the Great Comet of 1811, was discovered by Honoré Flaugergues at 2.7
AU from the sun in the now-defunct constellation of Argo Navis. In
October 1811, at its brightest, it displayed an apparent magnitude
of 0, with an easily visible coma.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Comet_of_1811)(http://koolkreations.wix.com/kalopins-legacy)
1819Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, William Herschel
made his last telescopic observation of an 1819 comet.
   (Maggio, 98)
1826Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, Giuseppe Piazzi
(80), monk, mathematician (found 1st asteroid, 1801), died.
   (MC, 7/22/02)
1847Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, Maria Mitchell
(29), American astronomer living on Nantucket Island, discovered a
new comet that was named after herself. In 1848 she was elected to
the American Academy of Arts, the first woman to be so honored.
Frederick VI, the King of Denmark awarded her a gold medal for her
discovery.
   (HN, 10/1/98)(ON, 2/07, p.9)
1848Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, A. Graham
discovered asteroid #9: Metis.
   (SS, 4/25/02)
1857Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, H. Goldschmidt
discovered asteroid #45, Eugenia.
   (SC, 6/27/02)
1858Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 2, Donati Comet was
1st seen and named after it's discoverer.
   (SC, 6/2/02)
1858Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, Donati's comet
became the 1st to be photographed.
   (MC, 9/28/01)
1862Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, Horace Parnell
Tuttle, an assistant at Harvard College Observatory, spotted a comet
in the constellation of Camelopardalis. Following his announcement
Lewis Swift of Marathon, NY, said he had seen the comet three days
earlier. The comet came to be called the 109P Swift-Tuttle. In the
1970s British astronomer Brian Marsden (1937-2010) suggested that
the comet had already been observed in 1737 and that it would return
in 1992, which it did.
   (Econ, 12/4/10, p.111)
1864Â Â Â Â Â Â A meteorite was found near
Orgueil, France, that was later believed to be a fragment of a
comet. It was later found to show traces of amino acids.
   (SFC, 12/19/01, p.A8)
1872Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, J.C. Watson
discovered asteroid #121, Hermione.
   (SC, Internet, 5/12/97)
1884Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, J. Palisa
discovered asteroid #237, Coelestina.
   (SC, 6/27/02)
1885Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, Some 13,000
meteors were seen in 1 hour near Andromeda.
   (MC, 8/30/01)
1885Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, The 1st photograph
of a meteor was made.
   (MC, 11/26/01)
1890Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, J. Palisa
discovered asteroids #291 Alice & #292 Ludovica.
   (SS, 4/25/02)
1891Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, A. Charlois
discovered asteroid #311 Claudia.
   (SC, 6/11/02)
1894Â Â Â Â Â Â A fireball was seen
streaking across the skies of southern Nevada. 14 years alter a
prospector found a 1.45 kg meteorite that was named the Quinn Canyon
meteorite.
  Â
(www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/treasures_rock_jan10.asp)
1901Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, M. Wolf discovered
asteroid #471, Papagena.
   (SC, 6/7/02)
1892Â Â Â Â Â Â Edwin Holmes discovered
Comet 17P/Holmes. On Oct. 23, 2007, the comet, which had been
visible to modern astronomers only with a telescope, suddenly
erupted and expanded, possibly due to sinkholes in its nucleus.
   (AP, 11/4/07)
1906Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, J.H. Metcalf
discovered asteroid #599: Luisa.
   (SS, 4/25/02)
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, A. Kopff
discovered asteroids #633, Zelima, and #634, Ute.
   (SC, Internet, 5/12/97)
1908Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, An explosion near
the Tunguska River in Siberia incinerated some 300 sq. km. that
encircled the impact of an estimated 60 meter diameter stony
meteorite. It flattened some 40,000 trees over 900 sq. miles and
caused damage equivalent to a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb. The
explosion in Siberia, which knocked down trees in a 30-mile radius
and struck people unconscious some 40 miles away, is believed by
some scientists to be caused by a falling fragment from a meteorite.
   (NH, 9/97, p.85)(SFC, 3/12/98, p.A15)(HN,
6/30/98)(Econ, 12/23/06, p.123)
1909      May 13, A. Kopff
discovered asteroid #681, Gorgo.
   (SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1910Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, After weeks of
being viewed through telescopes, Halley's Comet was reported visible
to the naked eye in Curacao.
   (AP, 4/19/00)
1910Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, Halley’s Comet was
visible in the night sky. Entrepreneurs peddled "comet gas masks"
for people worried about the Earth's passage through poisonous
cyanogen gas in the comet's tail.
   (AP, 4/21/97)(SFEC, 10/3/99, p.B10)
1910Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Passage of Earth
through tail of Halley's Comet caused near-panic.
   (SC, 5/18/02)
1917Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, M. Wolf discovered
asteroid #870, Manto.
   (SC, Internet, 5/12/97)
1929Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, G. Neujmin
discovered asteroid #1147 Stavropolis.
   (SC, 6/11/02)
1930Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, P. Parchomenko
discovered asteroid #1166, Sakuntala.
   (SC, 6/27/02)
1931      May 13, C. Jackson
discovered asteroid #1194, Aletta.
   (SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1932Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, E. Delporte
discovered asteroid #1222 Tina.
   (SC, 6/11/02)
1934      May 13, C. Jackson
discovered asteroid #1320, Impala.
   (SS, Internet, 5/13/97)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, C. Jackson
discovered asteroid #1357, Khama.
   (SC, 7/2/02)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, C. Jackson
discovered asteroid #1641 Tana.
   (SC, 7/25/02)
1935Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, G. Neujmin
discovered asteroid #1386 Storeria.
   (SC, 7/28/02)
1936Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, G. Neujmin
discovered asteroid #3761.
   (SC, 7/25/02)
1937Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, C. Jackson
discovered asteroids #1429, Pemba, & #1456, Saldanha.
   (SC, 7/2/02)
1937Â Â Â Â Â Â An asteroid was discovered
and named Hermes. It disappeared and was not seen again until 2003
and found to actually be a pair of objects traveling together.
   (SFC, 10/27/03, p.A4)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, A 500 ton
meteorite landed near Pittsburgh.
   (MC, 6/24/02)
1938Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, K. Reinmuth
discovered asteroid #1485 Isa.
   (SC, 7/28/02)
1944Â Â Â Â Â Â May 17, D. du Toit
(Harvard College Observatory, Boyden station, Bloemfontein, South
Africa) discovered the comet, 66P/du Toit, on a photograph.
   (http://cometography.com/pcomets/066p.html)
1947Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, A daytime fireball
& meteorite fell and was seen in eastern Siberia.
   (MC, 2/12/02)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, E.L. Johnson
discovered asteroid #1922: Zulu.
   (SS, 4/25/02)
1949Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, W. Baade
discovered asteroid #1566, Icarus.
   (SC, 6/27/02)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, The Goethe Link
Observatory discovered asteroids #1799 Koussevitsky, #1822 Waterman
& #2842.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids_%281001-2000%29)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â Astronomer Fred L. Whipple
(1907-2004) proposed that comets consisted of ice with some rock
mixed in. His theory was validated in 1986 with observations of
Haley’s comet.
   (SFC, 9/1/04, p.B7)
1951Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, M. Itzigsohn
discovered asteroid #1588, Descamisada.
   (SC, 6/27/02)
1951Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, L. Boyer
discovered asteroid #1714 Sy.
   (SC, 7/25/02)
1952Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, Goethe Link
Observatory discovered asteroid #1788 Kiess.
   (SC, 7/25/02)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, A meteorite struck
Mrs. Elizabeth Hodges of Alabama as she was sleeping on a couch. The
space rock was a sulfide meteorite weighing 8.5 pounds and measuring
seven inches in length. Mrs. Hodges was not permanently injured but
suffered a nasty bruise along her hip and leg. This was the
1st modern report of a Meteorite striking a human.
   (MC, 11/30/01)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, H. Wroblewski
discovered asteroid #1993 Guacolda on exposures by G. Plouguin and
I. Belyaiev at the University of Chile, Cerro El Roble Station.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Guacolda)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, A meteor shower hit
Mexico creating a luminance in the night sky as bright as day. A
meteorite weighing over 1 ton fell in Chihuahua, Mexico.
   (TMP, KCTS-Video, 1987)(MC, 2/8/02)
1969      May 13, Paul Wild,
Swiss astronomer, discovered asteroid #1775, Zimmerwald.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1775_Zimmerwald)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, The Murchison
Meteorite crashed into Australia. It was found to contain amino
acids and frozen ice.
   (TMP, KCTS-Video,
1987)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murchison_meteorite)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, T. Smirnova,
Russian born astronomer, discovered asteroid #2121, Sevastopol.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Mikhailovna_Smirnova)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Cornelis van Houten
(1920-2002), Dutch astronomer, discovered an asteroid and named it
Asteroid 1877 Marsden after British astronomer Brian Marsden.
   (Econ, 12/4/10, p.111)
1972Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, A 1 million kg.
heavy meteorite grazed the atmosphere above Canada.
   (MC, 8/10/02)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, Dr. Lubos Kohoutek,
Czech astronomer, used a double exposure and discovered the comet
Kohoutek then 370 million miles from earth.
   (NG, Aug., 1974,
p.223)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Kohoutek)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Eleanor F. Helin,
American astronomer, discovered asteroid #5496.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids/5401%E2%80%935500)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 25, T. Smirnova,
Russian astronomer, discovered asteroid #2345 Fucik.
   (http://tinyurl.com/4lx b4w)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, Eleanor Helin of
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab. discovered the first near Earth asteroid
which she named Aten. The orbits of these asteroids lie mostly
inside that of the Earth and could at some date collide with the
Earth.
   (SFC, 2/1/97,
p.A8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_F._Helin)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, W. Sebok
discovered asteroid #2491.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids/2401%E2%80%932500)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 6, The Wild-2 comet
was discovered by Swiss astronomer Paul Wild.
   (SFC, 2/6/99,
p.A8)(www.solarviews.com/eng/cometwild2.htm)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, L.I. Chernykh
(b.1935), Russian astronomer, discovered asteroids #3332, #6110
& #7730.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyudmila_Chernykh)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Perth Observatory
discovered asteroid #3188 and #3422.
   (SC, 7/28/02)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, N. Chernykh,
Soviet-Russian, discovered asteroids #2656: Evenkia & #3653.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Stepanovich_Chernykh)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, The comet SOLWIND
1 first appeared on an image, at which time it was located 5.96
solar radii from the sun. It has been commonly presumed that the
comet either hit the sun, or completely vaporized because of its
near approach.
   (http://cometography.com/lcomets/1979q1.html)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, Zdenka Vavrova,
Czech astronomer discovered asteroid #3592.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zde%C5%88ka_V%C3%A1vrov%C3%A1)
1980Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, E. Bowell
discovered asteroid #2531 Cambridge.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids/2501%E2%80%932600)
1981Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, L.E. Gonzalez
discovered asteroid #3495, Colchagua, from the astronomical station
of Cerro El Roble in Chile.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids_(3001-4000))
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, E. Bowell
discovered asteroids #2688: Halley, #3275: Oberndorfer & #3692.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids/2601%E2%80%932700)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, Norman Thomas
discovered asteroid 3367 Alex, 3413 Andriana, 3525 Paul & 3580.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids/3301%E2%80%933400)
1983Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, A. Gilmore & P.
Kilmartin discovered asteroid #3152.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroids_(3001-4000))
1984Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 2, B.A. Skiff
discovered asteroid #3617.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._A._Skiff)
1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, The European Space
Agency launched the Giotto space probe for a close-up of Halley’s
Comet. It made its closest approach to the comet on March 13, 1986.
   (SFEC, 9/28/97, p.A14)(http://tinyurl.com/2hnfnw)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Halley's Comet
reached 30th perihelion, its closest approach to Sun. 5 spacecraft
from the USSR, Japan, and the European Community visited Comet
Halley in early 1986.
  Â
(http://tinyurl.com/nmhkd)(www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/halley.html)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, USSR's Vega 1 flew
by Halley's Comet at 8,890 km.
   (www.iki.rssi.ru/ssp/vega.html)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, The Japanese probe
Suisei passed 151,000 kilometers (95,000 miles) from the nucleus of
Haley’s Comet.
  Â
(www.nasm.si.edu/ceps/etp/comets/comet_halley.html)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Halley's Comet
made its closest approach to Earth this trip at 63 M km.
  Â
(www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/01/01.html)
1986Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, E F Helin
discovered asteroid #3855 Pasasymphonia.
   (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=3855)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, The European Space
Agency photographed the nucleus of Haley’s Comet.
   (SFC, 10/2/07, p.A6)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, The peak of the Eta
Aquarid meteor shower. It displayed 10-40 meteors per hour.
   (PacDis, Spring/'94, p. 40)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â May 29, A great comet
iceball was seen above the North Sea.
   (SC, 5/29/02)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, The first of 21
pieces of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 slammed into Jupiter. The comet was
initially discovered by astronomer Eugene Shoemaker (d.1997 at 69).
   (HFA, '96, p.34)(SFC, 7/19/97, p.A21)(AP,
7/16/99)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, Two American
amateur astronomers first reported the discovery of the comet
bearing their names: Hale-Bopp. Reconstruction of the orbit
indicated that the comet repeatedly enters the inner solar system
every 3,000 years or so. It travels in an orbit perpendicular to the
solar system in an elongated ellipse that is about 33 million miles
from the sun at its farthest point. Its closest approach to Earth
will be on Mar. 23, 1997. The nearest pass will be on Apr 1.
   (Nat. Hist., 3/96, p.55)(SFEC, 10/27/96, p.A17)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, The closest
approach of the Hyakutake comet, first sighted Jan 31. It was to
come within ten-million miles of the Earth.
   (Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.62)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, X-rays were found
coming from the Hyakutake comet by a teams of US and German
scientists.
   (SFC, 4/4/96, p.A-10)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, An asteroid about
a third of a mile across was detected and enroute to miss Earth by
only 279,000 miles on 5/19/96. Timothy Spar and Carl Hergenrother
discovered the asteroid and named it 1996 JA-1. It was traveling at
10 miles per second on a 4-year orbit around the sun.
   (SFC, 5/19/96, p.A-2)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, In an astronomical
near hit, a large asteroid approached Earth within 281,000 miles, a
distance just greater than the moon, in a surprise to astronomers
who discovered it in midweek.
   (DTnet, 5/19/97)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Comet Hale-Bopp
directly above the Sun (1.04 AU).
   (SC, 3/4/02)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, The Hale-Bopp
comet made its closest approach to Earth at 122 million miles. On
Apr 1 it will make its closest approach to the sun, perihelion, at
some 85 miles distance.
   (SFC, 3/28/97, p.A12)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, Asteroid 1998 QE2
was discovered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln
Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program near Socorro, New
Mexico.
   (www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-163)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, The Stardust
spacecraft lifted off aboard a Delta II rocket for its 7-year
journey to gather particles from the Wild-2 comet.
   (SFC, 2/6/99, p.A8)(SFC, 7/18/05, p.A4)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, NASA reported that
its Deep Space I craft took pictures of the comet Borrelly.
   (SFC, 9/24/01, p.B2)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, A one-day workshop on
deflecting asteroids was held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in
Houston. The B612 Foundation formed soon thereafter to promote an
asteroid defense system. B612 is the asteroid home of the Little
Prince in Antoine de Saint-Exupery's child's story The Little
Prince.
   (SFCM, 10/8/06, p.13)(www.b612foundation.org)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â cDec 26, A 1,000 asteroid
dubbed 2001 YB5 was spotted approaching Earth. It passed within
400,000 miles of Earth on Jan 7.
   (SFC, 1/9/02, p.A11)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, Comet Ikeya-Zhang
was discovered by 2 amateur astronomers in Japan and China. Its
closest approach to Earth was projected for Apr 30. It last flew
into the solar system nearly 350 years earlier.
   (SFC, 3/23/02, p.A3)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, NASA launched the
$159 million Countour space probe to study the composition of
comets. Scientists lost contact on Aug 15.
   (SFC, 8/16/02, p.A6)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, Astronomers
reported a frozen object beyond Pluto some 800 miles across. They
named it Quaoar, after a creation force in Southern California
Indian mythology. The Asteroid 50000 Quaoar (2002LM60) was
identified in the Kuiper Belt with the Hubble telescope.
   (ADN, 10/8/02, p.A4)(SFC, 12/30/02, p.A6)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â A group of scientists and
former astronauts formed the B612 Foundation, named after the home
asteroid of Saint Exupery’s little prince. Their goal was to develop
a way to alter the coarse of an asteroid that might be on a
collision course with Earth.
   (Econ, 10/2/04, p.80)(Econ, 7/7/12,
p.73)(http://b612foundation.org/media/faqs/)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, Japan launched a
rocket carrying the Muses-C probe, which planned to make contact
with asteroid 1998 SF36 in June of 2005.
   (SFC, 5/10/03, p.A7)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, The NASA Stardust
spacecraft took pictures of the Wild-2 comet tail and collected
particles on "aerogel," a silica foam 99.8% air, the lightest
material ever made.
   (SFC, 2/6/99, p.A8)(SSFC, 1/4/04, p.A8)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, The European Space
Agency launched its Rosetta lander. It was intended to land on comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in May, 2014.
   (SFC, 7/18/05, p.A4)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, A 100-foot
diameter asteroid passed within 26,500 miles of Earth, the
closest-ever brush on record by a space rock.
   (AP, 3/18/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, An asteroid
identified as 2004JG6 was observed inside Earth’s orbit and
traveling around the sun every 184 days.
   (SFC, 5/31/04, p.A4)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, The asteroid
Toutatis, a few kilometers in diameter, came within 1½Â million
km. of Earth. It was 1st discovered in 1989.
   (Econ, 10/2/04, p.80)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, NASA launched its
Deep Impact spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Fla. It was scheduled to
launch an 820-poind impactor vehicle at Comet Tempel-1 on July 4.
   (WSJ, 1/13/05, p.D8)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, NASA’s Deep Impact
spacecraft collided with the comet Tempel 1, half the size of
Manhattan, creating a brilliant cosmic smashup that capped a risky
voyage to uncover the building blocks of life on Earth.
   (Reuters, 7/4/05)(SFC, 7/4/05, p.A1)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Japan’s Hayabusa
probe successfully released its Minerva surface-exploring robot, but
Minerva appeared to start drifting away from the asteroid's surface.
The space agency said it is targeting actual landings on the
potato-shaped asteroid Itokawa on Nov. 19 and Nov. 25.
   (AP, 11/13/05)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, The NASA space
capsule, Stardust, returned safely to Earth in a desert near Salt
Lake City with the first dust ever fetched from a comet, a cosmic
bounty that scientists hope will yield clues to how the solar system
formed.
   (http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/photo/er.html)(AP,
1/15/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Robert McNaught of
the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia made the 1st sighting of
a comet that came to be called Comet McNaught.
   (Econ, 1/20/07, p.89)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, A meteorite made a
fiery crash to Earth in southern Peru and villagers were soon struck
by a mysterious illness.
   (AFP, 9/17/07)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Rosetta, the
European deep space probe launched in 2004, completed a flyby of the
Steins asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
   (SFC, 9/7/08, p.A6)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, The Almahata Sitta
meteorite crashed in Sudan's Nubian Desert. It was later reported
that diamonds in the meteorite, would have required great pressure
to form and were most likely formed by a proto-planet at least 4.55
billion years ago. The mystery planet was thought to have been least
as big as Mercury, possibly even Mars.
   (AP, 4/17/18)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, A meteor streaked
across the sky of the Canadian Prairies producing a fire ball that
shone brightly enough to be seen over an area 700 km (435 miles)
wide. Searchers soon found the remains of the 10-ton meteor.
   (AP, 11/28/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, The Univ. of Hawaii
activated the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System
(PS1) to search for dangerous asteroids.
   (Econ, 12/6/08, p.100)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, An asteroid named
2009 DD45, about the size of one that blasted Siberia a century ago,
buzzed by Earth. It measured between 69 feet and 154 feet in
diameter and came to 48,800 miles from Earth.
   (AP, 3/4/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, Pedro Elias
Zadunaisky (b.1917), Argentine astronomer and mathematician, died.
His calculations helped determine the orbit of Saturn's outermost
moon, Phoebe, as well as Halley's Comet.
   (AP, 10/7/09)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, An asteroid, called
2010 GA6, flew within the orbit of the moon as it passed Earth at
7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 GMT). The relatively small space rock, about 71
feet (22m) wide was discovered by astronomers with the Catalina Sky
Survey in Tucson, Az.
   (http://tinyurl.com/yd4dy5z)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, President Barack
Obama set a goal to visit an asteroid by 2025. Obama outlined NASA's
new path during a visit to the Kennedy Space Center.
   (AP, 4/16/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, Scientists
reported that infrared analysis of asteroid 24 Themis indicated that
it contained evidence of water ice as well as organic compounds.
Themis, a 120-mile wide asteroid, stood as one of the largest in the
solar system.
   (SFC, 4/28/10, p.A6)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, Japan’s Hayabusa
space probe, which scientists hope contains material from the
surface of an asteroid returned to Earth, landed in the remote
Australian outback following a 7-year journey.
   (AFP, 6/13/10)(SFC, 6/15/10, p.A2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 11, President Obama
signed a major NASA act that turns his vision for US space
exploration of asteroids and Mars into law.
   (http://tinyurl.com/26w555z)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Dr. Richard B.
Hoover, an astrobiologist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center,
said he has found conclusive evidence of alien life, fossils of
bacteria found in an extremely rare class of meteorite called CI1
carbonaceous chondrites. (There are only nine such meteorites on
planet Earth.) His findings were published today in the Journal of
Cosmology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Scientists inside and
outside NASA distanced themselves from Hoover saying he does not
have expertise in astrobiology.
   (http://tinyurl.com/4t485yy)(SFC, 3/8/11, p.A4)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, A rock, named
asteroid 2011 MD, zoomed by just 7,500 miles (12,000 km) above
Earth, making a sharp turn forced by gravity before winging off into
space again. The flyby occurred at about 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).
   (SPACE.com, 6/27/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Dawn, a NASA
spacecraft, went into orbit around Vesta, an asteroid in the
asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. After a year it was expected
to leave Vesta and head for the asteroid Ceres.
   (Econ, 7/16/11, p.81)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, NASA made
available the first image of the asteroid Vesta shot from its Dawn
spacecraft, 117 million miles from Earth.
   (SFC, 7/20/11, p.A7)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, A 1,300 foot-wide
asteroid, known as 2005 YU55, passed within 201,700 miles of Earth.
This was its closest approach in 200 years.
   (SFC, 11/9/11, p.A6)(Econ, 11/12/11, p.96)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, A meteor, dubbed
the Sutter’s Mill Meteriote, exploded into fragments over northern
California. It weighed barely 2 pounds and was apparently from a
family of known asteroids named 495 Eulalia.Â
   (SFC, 12/21/12, p.C9)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Australian
astronomers discovered a comet named C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring).
Scientists said it will pass about 50km from Mars on October 19,
2014. On Oct 19 the comet’s closest approach to Mars was about
140,000 km.
   (Econ, 3/9/13, p.80)(Econ, 10/25/14, p.82)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, In Russia a
meteor, estimated to be about 10 tons, streaked through the sky and
exploded over the Ural Mountains with the power of an atomic bomb.
Its sonic blasts shattered countless windows and injured some 1200
people.
   (AP, 2/15/13)(AP, 2/16/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, The 150-foot
Asteroid 2012 DA14 came within an incredible 17,150 miles to Earth,
closer than many communication and weather satellites orbiting
22,300 miles up.
   (AP, 2/15/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, The Pan-STARRS
comet passed within 100 million miles of Earth, its closest approach
in its first-ever cruise through the inner solar system.
   (AP, 3/5/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, An asteroid as big
as a city block shot relatively close by the Earth. Discovered just
six days ago, the 460-foot long (140m) Asteroid 2013 ET passed about
600,000 miles from Earth.
   (Reuters, 3/9/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, The 150-foot
Asteroid 2012 DA14 came within an incredible 17,150 miles to Earth,
closer than many communication and weather satellites orbiting
22,300 miles up.
   (AP, 2/15/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, In Russia a
meteor, estimated to be about 10 tons, streaked through the sky and
exploded over Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains with the power of an
atomic bomb. Its sonic blasts shattered countless windows and
injured some 1200 people.
   (AP, 2/15/13)(AP, 2/16/13)(Econ, 2/23/13, p.78)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, The comet C/2012
S1 (ISON), first spotted in April 2012 by Russian astronomers, made
contact with the sun’s fiery corona. It was named after the Int’l.
Scientific Optical Network. Astronomers were unsure if the comet
survived.
   (SFC, 11/28/13, p.D2)(SFC, 11/29/13, p.A15)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 29, Images from
spacecraft showed a light streak continuing past the sun indicating
that at least part of comet ISON remained on one piece.
   (SFC, 11/30/13, p.A6)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, NASA said solar
observatories saw something emerge from around the sun following the
comet ISON’s close approach.
   (SFC, 12/3/13, p.A7)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, After a journey of
6.4 billion km (4 billion miles), Europe's unmanned Rosetta probe
reached its destination, a milestone in mankind's first attempt to
land a spacecraft on a comet. Scientists received a signal from the
European launched Rosetta probe, launched in 2004 and scheduled to
land in May 2014, that it was in orbit around comet
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
   (AP, 8/6/14)(SFC, 7/18/05, p.A4)(Econ, 8/9/14,
p.66)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Europe’s Rosetta
spacecraft released its Philae lander toward the icy, dusty surface
of a speeding comet. Rosetta was launched a decade ago to study the
4-km-wide (2.5-mile-wide) 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet. Philae
bounced and came to rest in the shadow of a cliff, posing a
potential problem for its solar panels.
   (AP, 11/12/14)(AP, 11/13/14)(Econ, 11/22/14,
p.76)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, Batteries aboard
the European Space Agency’s Philae comet lander drained, shutting
down the washing machine-sized probe after an adventurous and
largely unscripted 57-hour mission. Its last task was to reposition
itself so that as the comet soars toward the sun, Philae’s batteries
may recharge enough for a follow-on mission.
   (Reuters, 11/15/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 3, A Japanese space
explorer took off on a six-year journey to blow a crater in a remote
asteroid and bring back rock samples in hopes of gathering clues to
the origin of Earth. Hayabusa2, is expected to reach the asteroid in
mid-2018.
   (AP, 12/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Astronomers discovered
MU69 in the Kuiper Belt and later realized it might be two objects
orbiting a common center of mass.
   (Econ, 9/16/17, p.74)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, NASA confirmed that
its Dawn spacecraft has arrived to orbit the dwarf planet Ceres for
a 16-month exploration.
   (SFC, 3/7/15, p.A4)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, European
scientists said that they have stopped sending commands to the
Philae space probe, which became the first to touch down on a comet
more than a year ago.
   (AP, 2/12/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, The European Space
Agency (ESA) announced that Earth bid a final farewell to robot lab
Philae, severing communications after a year-long silence from the
pioneering probe hurtling through space on a comet.
   (AFP, 7/27/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, Scientists in
Argentina uncovered a meteorite they called Gancedo in "Campo del
Cielo" (Field of Heaven) on the border between Chaco and Santiago
del Estero. It was thought to have hit the region about 4,500 years
ago.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gancedo_(meteorite))(Reuters,
9/16/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, Astronomers reported
that several craters on the dwarf planet Ceres contain ice. Ceres is
the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
   (SFC, 12/19/16, p.C2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, A fireball lit up
the skies of Arctic Finland with a glow of 100 full moons. Experts
scrambled to find where the meteorite landed.
   (SSFC, 11/19/17, p.A4)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, Japan's Hayabusa2
spacecraft arrived at an asteroid after a 3 1/2-year journey to
undertake a first-ever experiment: blow a crater in the rocky
surface to collect samples and bring them back to Earth.
   (AP, 6/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, A Japanese
spacecraft released two small rovers on an asteroid in a mission
that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system. The two
Minerva-II-1 rovers were lowered from the unmanned spacecraft
Hayabusa2 to the asteroid Ryugu.
   (AP, 9/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, The Japan Space
Exploration Agency said the Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT),
a German-French observation device, was released from the unmanned
spacecraft Hayabusa2 and successfully landed on the asteroid Ryugu.
   (AP, 10/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Japan's space
agency said it is delaying a touchdown of its Hayabusa2 spacecraft
on the Ryugu asteroid due to a rockier than expected surface.
   (SFC, 10/13/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, Japan's space
agency says more than 200 photos taken by the two small Minerva II-1
rovers on Ryugu asteroid show no signs of a smooth area for the
planned touchdown of a spacecraft early next year.
   (AP, 12/13/18)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, NASA rang in the
New Year with a historic flyby of the farthest, and quite possibly
the oldest, cosmic body ever explored by humankind -- a tiny,
distant world called Ultima Thule -- in the hopes of learning more
about how planets took shape.
   (AFP, 1/1/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, A Japanese probe
sent to collect samples from an asteroid 300 million km away for
clues about the origin of life and the solar system landed
successfully. Hayabusa2 touched down briefly on the Ryugu asteroid,
fired a bullet into the surface to puff up dust for collection and
blasted back to its holding position.
   (AP, 2/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Japan's space
agency said an explosive dropped from its Hayabusa2 spacecraft
successfully blasted the surface of an asteroid for the first time
to form a crater and pave the way for the collection of underground
samples for possible clues to the origin of the solar system.
   (AP, 4/5/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, Japan's Hayabusa2
spacecraft landed on the Ryugu asteroid, collected underground
samples and rose safely. The asteroid, about 900 yards in diameter,
is about 180 million miles from Earth.
   (SFC, 7/12/19, p.A4)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 28, The comet
ATLAS was discovered by the ATLAS survey. It has a near-parabolic
orbit and will reach its nearest point to Earth on May 23. It will
come to perihelion (closest to the Sun) on May 31.
   (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2019_Y4_(ATLAS))
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 20, Researchers said
that the comet called 2I/Borisov - only the second interstellar
object ever detected passing through the solar system - is
surprisingly different in its composition from comets hailing from
our celestial neighborhood. Gas coming off 2I/Borisov contained high
amounts of carbon monoxide. The comet was detected in August 2019 by
amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov and estimated to be about
six-tenths of a mile (1-km) wide.
   (Reuters, 4/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, Astronomers
discovered Comet C2020 F3 NEOWISE, using NASA's Near-Earth Object
Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. The comet's closest approach to
Earth was to be on July 22. It would not return for another 6,766
years.
  Â
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2020_F3_(NEOWISE))(SFC, 7/13/20,
p.B3)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 20, NASA's Osiris-Rex
spacecraft descended to the Bennu asteroid and, dodging boulders the
size of buildings, momentarily touched the surface to collect a
handful of cosmic rubble for return to Earth. On Oct. 23 scientists
said the spacecraft was stuffed with so much asteroid rubble from
this week’s grab that it’s lid was jammed open and precious
particles were drifting away in space.
   (AP, 10/20/20)(AP, 10/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, Japan retrieved a
capsule of asteroid dust from Australia's remote outback after a
six-year mission that may help uncover more about the origins of the
planets and water. The capsule lit up on re-entry into the
atmosphere early today and landed in the Woomera restricted area,
about 460 km (285 miles) north of Adelaide.
   (Reuters, 12/6/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Scientists said
they have switched on a new telescope at the European Southern
Observatory as part of an effort to create an automated network for
spotting asteroids that might pose a risk to Earth. The La Silla
Observatory in Chile, known as TBT2, will work together with a twin
in Cebreros, Spain, to test whether the same object in space can be
detected with one device and then tracked by another.
   (AP, 4/27/21)
2061Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, 31st recorded
perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
   (SC, 7/28/02)
2126Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, The comet
Swift-Tuttle is due back in the inner solar system. The annual
Perseid meteor shower is the train of debris from the comet.
   (SFC, 8/10/96, p.A19)(SFC, 8/11/99, p.A2)
2880Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, The asteroid 1950
DA, 7/10 of a mile wide, was scheduled to pass within 250,000 miles
of Earth and had a 1 in 300 chance of hitting Earth.
   (SFC, 4/5/02, p.A2)
Go to
http://www.timelinesdb.com
Subject = Comet, Asteroid, Astronomy
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