Explanation:
Apollo class
asteroid
2006 VV2
flashed past planet Earth
in late March, approaching to within 3.4 million kilometers
or about 8.8 times the Earth-Moon distance.
Due to the proximity of its orbit to Earth and its estimated
diameter of over 1 kilometer, 2006 VV2 is
classified
as a Potentially
Hazardous Asteroid.
Telescopes large and small were trained on the much
anticipated flyby,
the closest for a known asteroid of comparable
size until the year 2036.
This
composite telescopic view is from a series
of images recorded over a period of about an hour
on Mar. 28 from Vado, New Mexico.
The asteroid begins near the center of the field and tracks
down and to the left, apparently passing very near galaxy M81.
Of course,
along with
its companion galaxy M82 on the right,
M81 is really 12 million light years
away, compared to
the
asteroid's range of a mere 15 light seconds.
