At https://phys.org/news/2023-03-large-asteroid-chance.html … a big space rock will pass between the orbits of the earth and the moon this weekend. It will be just 100,000 miles away, but once again, the asteroid was not spotted until just a month ago. It will even be visible in small telescopes, and if you have suitable binoculars you may come up lucky. It is somewhere between 130 and 300 feet across. Not particularly big but enough to wipe out a broad swathe of land if it actually struck the earth – or exploded near the surface. Astronomers will be looking closely at it to find out if it can increase knowledge of the nature of such space rocks. There might even be a live webcam at the Virtual Telescope Project.
William sent in a link to https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/scientists-may-uncovered-oldest-evidence-114154018.html… scientists may have uncovered the oldest evidence of a meteor striking earth’s surface – 3.48 billion years ago. In Australia. Spherules formed during the strike were subsequently buried – but have now been dredged out of the Dresser Formation of the Pilbaro Crater in Western Australia. It is now being touted as the oldest evidence, yet, of an impact by a space rock. The spherules were actually found in 2019, in cores of sedimentary rock, dated using isotopes. Iridium was found in the spherules – and other elements such as nickel-chromium spincles and isotopes of asmium.