
 
 › Larger image This graphic depicts the passage of asteroid 2014 RC past Earth on September 7, 2014. At time of closest approach, the space rock will be about one-tenth the distance from Earth to the moon. Times indicated on the graphic are Universal Time. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech 
 
 September 03, 2014 
 
 2nd Update: September 12, 2014 
 
 Radar data collected by the Goldstone Solar System Radar on September 6 - 7 indicate that asteroid 2014 RC may be larger than originally estimated, with a minimum equatorial extent of 72 feet (22 meters). This is larger than the previous estimate of 40 feet (12 meters), which assumed a spherical body. These disparate and preliminary size estimates might suggest a highly elongated body. 
 
 More technical information on the flyby of asteroid 2014 RC can be found on the Near-Earth Object Program website at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov 
 
 UPDATED: September 8, 2014 
 
 Reports in the media over the weekend that a small meteorite impacted in Nicaragua have yet to be confirmed. A loud explosion was reportedly heard near Managua's international airport Saturday night, and photos of a 39-foot (12-meter) crater have been circulated. As yet, no eyewitness accounts or imagery have come to light of a fireball flash or debris trail that is typically associated with a meteor of the size required to produce such a crater. Scientists say because the explosion in Nicaragua occurred a full 13 hours before the close passage of asteroid 2014 RC, these two events are unrelated. 
 
 As predicted, the small asteroid 2014 RC flew safely past Earth at 11:01 a.m. PDT (2:01 p.m. EDT/18:01 UTC) on September 7. At the time of closest approach, 2014 RC was 24,800 miles (39,900 kilometers) from the center of Earth (20,800 miles/33,550 kilometers from Earth's surface). Astronomers around the world took the opportunity to observe this rare close approach, and learned that the asteroid is about 40 feet (12 meters) across and is spinning very rapidly. 
 
 More technical information on the flyby of asteroid 2014 RC can be found on the Near-Earth Object Program website at: 
 
 http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov 
 
 A small asteroid, designated 2014 RC, will safely pass very close to Earth on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014. At the time of closest approach, based on current calculations to be about 2:18 p.m. EDT (11:18 a.m. PDT / 18:18 UTC), the asteroid will be roughly over New Zealand. From its reflected brightness, astronomers estimate that the asteroid is about 60 feet (20 meters) in size. 
 
 Asteroid 2014 RC was initially discovered on the night of August 31 by the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona, and independently detected the next night by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope, located on the summit of Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii. Both reported their observations to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Additional follow-up observations by the Catalina Sky Survey and the University of Hawaii 88-inch (2.2-meter) telescope on Mauna Kea confirmed the orbit of 2014 RC. 
 
 At the time of closest approach, 2014 RC will be approximately one-tenth the distance from the center of Earth to the moon, or about 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers). The asteroid's apparent magnitude at that time will be about 11.5, rendering it unobservable to the unaided eye. However, amateur astronomers with small telescopes might glimpse the fast-moving appearance of this near-Earth asteroid. 
 
 The asteroid will pass below Earth and the geosynchronous ring of communications and weather satellites orbiting about 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above our planet's surface. While this celestial object does not appear to pose any threat to Earth or satellites, its close approach creates a unique opportunity for researchers to observe and learn more about asteroids. 
 
 While 2014 RC will not impact Earth, its orbit will bring it back to our planet's neighborhood in the future. The asteroid's future motion will be closely monitored, but no future threatening Earth encounters have been identified. 
 
 For a heliocentric view of the orbit of asteroid 2014 RC with respect to Earth and other planets, visit: 
 
 http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2014+RC&orb;=1 
 
 DC Agle 
 
 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 
 
 818-393-9011 
 
 agle@jpl.nasa.gov 
 
 
 
 Dwayne Brown 
 
 NASA Headquarters, Washington 
 
 202-358-1726 
 
 dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov 
 
 
 
 2014-295 ||||| MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaragua's government said Sunday that a mysterious boom heard overnight in the capital was made by a small meteorite that left a crater in a wooded area near Managua's airport. 
 
 In this Sunday Sept. 7, 2014, publicly distributed handout photo provided by the Nicaraguan Army shows an impact crater made by a small meteorite in a wooded area near Managua's international airport... (Associated Press) 
 
 Government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said a committee formed by the government to study the event determined it was a "relatively small" meteorite that "appears to have come off an asteroid that was passing close to Earth." 
 
 Murillo said Nicaragua will ask international experts to help local scientists in understanding what happened. 
 
 The crater left by the meteorite had a radius of 12 meters (39 feet) and a depth of 5 meters (16 feet), said Humberto Saballos, a volcanologist with the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies who was on the committee. He said it is still not clear if the meteorite disintegrated or was buried. 
 
 Humberto Garcia, of the Astronomy Center at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, said the meteorite could be related to an asteroid that was forecast to pass by the planet Saturday night. 
 
 "We have to study it more because it could be ice or rock," he said. 
 
 Wilfried Strauch, an adviser to the Institute of Territorial Studies, said it was "very strange that no one reported a streak of light. We have to ask if anyone has a photo or something." 
 
 Local residents reported hearing a loud boom Saturday night, but said they didn't see anything strange in the sky. 
 
 "I was sitting on my porch and I saw nothing, then all of a sudden I heard a large blast. We thought it was a bomb because we felt an expansive wave," Jorge Santamaria told The Associated Press. 
 
 The site of the crater is near Managua's international airport and an air force base. Only journalists from state media were allowed to visit it.
– A house-sized asteroid nicknamed "Pitbull" came close to Earth over the weekend—and appears to have taken a bite out of Nicaragua. There was a mysterious blast in the capital, Managua, late Saturday night, and government scientists believe it's connected to asteroid 2014 RC, reports Reuters. The explosion left a crater 40 feet wide and 16 feet deep on the outskirts of the city, near the airport. Government scientists say they believe it was caused by a "relatively small" meteorite and they plan to ask international experts for help, the AP reports. "It could have come off that asteroid because it is normal for that to occur. We have to study it more because it could be ice or rock," a Nicaraguan volcanologist tells the BBC. At its closest, the asteroid came within around 25,000 miles of Earth—a tenth of the distance to the moon—and "its orbit will bring it back to our planet's neighborhood in the future," according to NASA, which says "the asteroid's future motion will be closely monitored, but no future threatening Earth encounters have been identified."