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theatlantic:

GIFs of Asteroid Toutatis, as It Passed by Earth Last Week

Last week an asteroid known as 4179 Toutatis passed by Earth at a relatively close distance, as far as these things go. As it tumbled in space, getting as near as 4.3 million miles or 18 times the distance from us to the moon, NASA’s 230-foot-wide Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, California, captured radar data that showed the giant rock’s spin. NASA scientists then collected that data into a short film, which we present to you as Tumbling Asteroid GIFs, for your enjoyment and/or terror.
[Images: NASA]


Tumbling asteroid GIFs are perfect for Tumblr. Not much to be afraid of, though. This thing was pretty far from Earth. If you think about it, we’ve only been able to see these for a short time in our history, and if we have seen this many near-Earth asteroids in such a short time… well, they pass by Earth quite often. Emphasis on the “by Earth”.
Zoom Info
theatlantic:

GIFs of Asteroid Toutatis, as It Passed by Earth Last Week

Last week an asteroid known as 4179 Toutatis passed by Earth at a relatively close distance, as far as these things go. As it tumbled in space, getting as near as 4.3 million miles or 18 times the distance from us to the moon, NASA’s 230-foot-wide Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, California, captured radar data that showed the giant rock’s spin. NASA scientists then collected that data into a short film, which we present to you as Tumbling Asteroid GIFs, for your enjoyment and/or terror.
[Images: NASA]


Tumbling asteroid GIFs are perfect for Tumblr. Not much to be afraid of, though. This thing was pretty far from Earth. If you think about it, we’ve only been able to see these for a short time in our history, and if we have seen this many near-Earth asteroids in such a short time… well, they pass by Earth quite often. Emphasis on the “by Earth”.
Zoom Info
theatlantic:

GIFs of Asteroid Toutatis, as It Passed by Earth Last Week

Last week an asteroid known as 4179 Toutatis passed by Earth at a relatively close distance, as far as these things go. As it tumbled in space, getting as near as 4.3 million miles or 18 times the distance from us to the moon, NASA’s 230-foot-wide Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, California, captured radar data that showed the giant rock’s spin. NASA scientists then collected that data into a short film, which we present to you as Tumbling Asteroid GIFs, for your enjoyment and/or terror.
[Images: NASA]


Tumbling asteroid GIFs are perfect for Tumblr. Not much to be afraid of, though. This thing was pretty far from Earth. If you think about it, we’ve only been able to see these for a short time in our history, and if we have seen this many near-Earth asteroids in such a short time… well, they pass by Earth quite often. Emphasis on the “by Earth”.
Zoom Info

theatlantic:

GIFs of Asteroid Toutatis, as It Passed by Earth Last Week

Last week an asteroid known as 4179 Toutatis passed by Earth at a relatively close distance, as far as these things go. As it tumbled in space, getting as near as 4.3 million miles or 18 times the distance from us to the moon, NASA’s 230-foot-wide Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, California, captured radar data that showed the giant rock’s spin. NASA scientists then collected that data into a short film, which we present to you as Tumbling Asteroid GIFs, for your enjoyment and/or terror.

[Images: NASA]

Tumbling asteroid GIFs are perfect for Tumblr. Not much to be afraid of, though. This thing was pretty far from Earth. If you think about it, we’ve only been able to see these for a short time in our history, and if we have seen this many near-Earth asteroids in such a short time… well, they pass by Earth quite often. Emphasis on the “by Earth”.

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    • #asteroid
    • #gif
  • 5 months ago > theatlantic
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    How beautiful does Earth look from this perspective?!
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