Earth Narrowly Escapes 2006 QM111 Asteroid Flyby

[tony873004]

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db_shm?sstr=2006%20QM111

This one came close a couple of days ago.

Moment of closest approach. From overhead it looks like a direct hit:

Saved by the z-axis:

If you have Gravity Simulator on your computer, try it yourself:
http://orbitsimulator.com/gravity/simulations/2006QM111.gsim

 

[Astronuc]

Apparently it came close - 0.0011 AU from Earth (~165,000 km) passing on the inside (dayside) of Earth's orbit. Hmmmm.

NEO: 2006 QM111
Date of closest approach: 2006-Aug-31
Miss distance: 0.0011 AU (~165,000 km)
Miss distance: 0.4 Lunar distance
Diameter: 8.0 m - 18 m
Speed: 18.97 km/s

 

[FeynmanMH42]

Hehe, Pluto's still on that map. :p

 

[Azael]

how much damage would it have done if it hit?

 

[LURCH]

Not enough information to really tell. If it was mostly ice, it would have broken up in the atmosphere and had almost no effect on the ground (except for the chance that it might look loke a botched nuclear attack).

If it was iron and came straight in, it could have showered the area below it with fragments large enough to put small craters in the ground.

According to:
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/impacteffects/

 

[Chronos]

18m would put on a fabulous fireworks display, but cause little damage, even if solid, nickel-iron. 180m diameter . . . definitely NIMBY territory. 1800m . . . borderline KYA goodbye.