Slooh Space Camera to Track Enormous Asteroid 1998 QE2 as it zooms by Earth on its close approach
On the last day of May, at one minute to five in the afternoon (Eastern time), an impressive asteroid named 1998 QE2 will whiz past Earth at its closest approach for the next two centuries. Slooh Space Camera will cover its closest-approach on Friday, May 31st, live on Slooh.com, free to the public, starting at 1:30 PM PDT / 4:30 PM PM EDT / 20:30 UTC - International times here: http://goo.gl/aEWFG - viewers can watch live on their PC/MAC/Mobile device or by downloading the free Slooh iPad app in the iTunes store and touching the broadcast icon.
The asteroid will be traveling across the sky with a relative velocity of 10.58 kilometers per second or 23,666 mph, which is about 15 times faster than a rifle bullet. If asteroid 1998 QE2 were to hit Earth, the damage would be catastrophic - potentially an extinction level event. In comparison, the asteroid that destroyed the Dinosaurs was approximately 6 miles wide (10km).