Laatsch BDN column highlights asteroid that passed Earth on March 2
Shawn Laatsch, director of the Emera Astronomy Center and Jordan Planetarium, wrote his Bangor Daily News Eyes on Maine Skies column about an asteroid that passed within 9,000 miles of Earth on March 2. Laatsch, president of the International Planetarium Society, said that’s closer than some communications and weather satellites. The asteroid, about 10 feet in diameter, is called 2017 EA. An asteroid around 50 feet in diameter that struck Siberia on Feb. 15, 2013 blew out windows in homes. Asteroids a mile in diameter and larger are considered planet killers, said Laatsch, and have the potential to cause climatic changes. At 7 p.m. each Friday in March, the Emera Astronomy Center will present Asteroid: Mission Extreme, which examines asteroids in depth.