http://www.msnbc.com/news/784563.asp

Watch the skies for August asteroid
Space rock should be visible through binoculars,
experts say


By Robert Roy Britt
SPACE.COM

July 23 - In a rare event slated for
mid-August, an asteroid will pass close enough to
Earth to be visible through binoculars and small
telescopes.
An asteroid becomes as bright as 2002 NY40 from
our terrestrial vantage point only about once or twice
a decade. However, a similar event occurred last
December. The next time a known asteroid will appear
this bright is in 2004.
Two days prior to its closest approach, the
asteroid will achieve a brightness of magnitude 12. By
Aug. 19, a day after closest approach, its brightness
will drop off dramatically, to magnitude 21.
Asteroid 2002 NY40 presents no danger of hitting Earth
on this pass around the sun. However, astronomers have
calculated eight close passes on future orbits, one of
which in the year 2022 presents an extremely low (but
not zero) probability of an impact. Experts say an
object this large could cause regional destruction,
change the world climate temporarily, and kill
millions of people if it hit a populated area.
Similar calculations for other asteroids have been
made in the past, and typically the odds go to zero
when more observations are made and the numbers are
refined. The chances of any asteroid as big or larger
than 2002 NY40 hitting Earth sometime in the next
century are put at about 1 in 400.
Asteroid 2002 NY40 was first spotted July 14
with the 1-meter (3-foot) LINEAR telescope in Socorro,
N.M. Its discovery contrasts with that of another
asteroid, 2002 MN, which had an even closer brush with
Earth in June but was not detected until three days
later, by the same facility.
Every few months, typically, an asteroid
passing within the moon's orbit is noticed before or
shortly after it makes its closest approach to Earth.

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