Close asteroid encounter this Friday

Asteroids have been coming close to earth many times in the past - but we've never seen an object this big get so close to Earth. Get ready for Friday's rendezvous with asteroid 2012 DA14.

(Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

On this Friday, just a day after the romantic Valentine day, sky watchers in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia will get a chance to see one big rock hurtling through the heavens - One very big rock. 

Compared with other asteroids traveling through space, this one may seem a relative pebble - at half the size of a football field - but for Earth, it will make for a relatively close call.

The asteroid, known as "2012 DA14," will pass inside the ring of Earth's geosynchronous weather and communications satellites this week, coming within just 17,200 miles of the Earth's surface at around 12:30 p.m. PT.

However, there is nothing to worry about, reassures NASA.  Though the impact of an object this size would not be a global catastrophic event, it would surely cause massive and widespread devastation on a regional scale. On June 30, 1908, an asteroid similar to 2012 DA14 did in fact impact Earth, leveling trees for 820 square miles in Tunguska, Russia. These asteroids are serious business and could easily take out an entire city.

via C|net
You may also read: Asteroid 2012 DA14 to intrude inside earth's communication satellite orbit

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Syria shoots down Turkish war plane over Mediterranean

The Syrian military said tonight that it shot down a Turkish military aircraft 'over Syrian territorial waters'.

The F4 Phantom jet disappeared over the Mediterranean yesterday - potentially provoking a fresh crisis between the Middle Eastern neighbours.

'Our air defences confronted a target that penetrated our air space over our territorial waters pre-afternoon on Friday and shot it down. It turned out to be a Turkish military plane,' a statement by the military circulated on state media said.

The plane was brought down over the eastern part of the sea, southwest of the Turkish province of Hatay, which borders Syria.


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Apple May Launch The iPad 3 In February On Steve Jobs' Birthday

[ via Business Insider ] 23 Dec

A new report going around from Focus Taiwan claims that Apple is preparing to launch the iPad 3 on February 24, the anniversary of Steve Jobs' birthday.

It's also worth noting that February 24 is a Friday, a day which Apple typically likes to launch new devices on.

Read more: Business Insider

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