Asteroid shadows Earth's orbit
ARMAGH, England, April 8 (UPI) -- British scientists say Earth has a celestial follower, an asteroid discovered moving in roughly the same orbit our planet occupies.
However, worries about a collision are unnecessary, researchers at the Armagh Observatory in the United Kingdom said in an article in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Computer models reveal that for the foreseeable future the asteroid, 2010 S016, will stay at least 12 million miles away from Earth, AAAS ScienceMag.org reported Friday.
The asteroid, which is probably between 200 and 400 yards across, moves in a horseshoe-shaped path that sometimes carries it to the far side of the sun.
Its orbit has been stable for at least 250,000 years, the models reveal, and will likely remain so for at least 200,000 years into the future.
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