Asteroid Florence zooms past Earth at an uncomfortably close distance – won’t fly this close again for another 480 years – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

Asteroid Florence zooms past Earth at an uncomfortably close distance – won’t fly this close again for another 480 years




Asteroid Florence and its two orbiting moons flew past Earth at the unusually close distance of just 4.4 million miles, too close for comfort in cosmic terms.

Florence, which measures almost 3m across, whizzed by in its endless orbit, and will not pay us another close visit for another 480 years at least.

The rock was discovered in 1981, and was named after Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

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