Dark, Massive Asteroid To Fly By Earth On May 31

Asteroid 1998 QE2 will make its closest pass to Earth on May 31 at 1:59 p.m.

By Deborah Netburn

Los Angeles Times 

LOS ANGELES — It’s 1.7 miles long. Its surface is covered in a sticky black substance similar to the gunk at the bottom of a barbecue. If it impacted Earth, it would probably result in global extinction. Good thing it is just making a flyby.

Asteroid 1998 QE2 will make its closest pass to Earth on May 31 at 1:59 p.m.

Scientists are not sure where this unusually large space rock, which was discovered 15 years ago, originated. But the mysterious sooty substance on its surface could indicate it may be a result of a comet that flew too close to the sun, said Amy Mainzer, who tracks near-Earth objects at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in La Canada Flintridge, Calif. It might also have leaked out of the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, she said.

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Lately it seems like every time I turn around there is another asteroid fly by.How long can we continue to be so lucky?