Google doodles Earth’s close shave with Asteroid 2012 DA14
Google has made a doodle for Earth’s close shave with Asteroid 2012 DA14, which will pass by the planet tonight. The doodle shows the second ‘G’ in the company’s logo moving aside in a seemingly alarming manner as an asteroid passes by its spot.
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is a newly-discovered asteroid about half the size of a football field will pass nearer to Earth than any other known object of its size. It will cross paths with the planet on February 16, 2012 at 12:55 am IST (19:24 GMT), giving scientists a rare opportunity for close- up observations without launching a probe. In addition to trying to determine what minerals it contains, which is of potential commercial interest as well as scientific, astronomers want to learn more about its spin rate. The information not only will be useful to plotting DA14’s future visits but could help engineers develop techniques to thwart more threatening asteroids.
At its closest approach, it will pass about 27,520km (17,200 miles) above the planet, bringing it nearer than the networks of television and weather satellites that ring the planet. The astronomical body will travel at a speed of 13km (8 miles) per second.
Although Asteroid 2012 DA14 is the largest known object of its size to pass this close, scientists say there is no chance of an impact, this week or in the foreseeable future. Currently, DA14 matches Earth’s year-long orbit around the sun, but after Friday’s encounter its flight path will change, said astronomer Donald Yeomans, with Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The non-profit Space Data Association, which tracks satellites for potential collisions, analyzed the asteroid’s projected path and determined no spacecraft would be in its way.