A newly discovered asteroid designated 2017 AG13 is about to fly by the Earth tonight at 00:47 GMT (07:47 EST). It whizzes past at half the distance of the Moon at 10 miles per second. This is a very fast speed relative to the Earth. Estimated to be around 11 – 34 meters in diameter which is roughly the same size as the asteroid that struck Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013. This asteroid was only discovered on Saturday 07th January by scientists at the Catalina Sky Survey. The asteroid is quite dim so will be difficult to observe for amateur astronomers especially given the relative speed. Click the diagram below for an enlarged orbit diagram.
According to this link, it is only 22-34 meters in diameter, not 12 miles.
https://watchers.news/2017/01/08/near-earth-asteroid-2017-ag13-flyby-january-9-2017/
The article has been updated as per the diameter estimates at the minor planet centre.
There are mixed reports coming through on Asteroid 2017 AG13’s size at the moment. I will rename the title to avoid confusion. Keep revisiting for updates on this. Apologies, this is a developing report.
I am nowhere near being an expert in Astro Physics but how significant is this flyby? The asteroid was not detected until last weekend and flew very close to us in astronomical terms and could be termed a near miss. Could there not be other similar asteroids, “related” to this one, and correspondingly in close proximity to Earth, that could similarly appear suddenly and surprise us with uncertain consequences