You're watching...
American Museum of Natural History’s Dr. Emily L. Rice on the asteroid that flew close to the earth and the meteor that crashed in Russia.
Also in this playlist...
Auto-advance: ON
Auto-advance
This transcript is automatically generated
Event and NASA researchers.
Have identified just 9600.
Near earth asteroids to -- -- -- 600.
But that is about balance -- under 1% of the million asteroids that that we believe are near us for more on this latest.
Asteroid flyby and the Russian fireball I'm joined by doctor and we rice.
Research assistant and now Astro physics of the American Museum of Natural History doctor -- here.
-- this was an exciting day -- more exciting than any of -- I think Margaret forum and certainly in the Russian spies and absolutely.
V this.
Analysts -- with the asterisk first because I am so impressed with the precision of the calculations of said that this restaurant.
The they're 171000.
Miles above -- Earth's surface and they were exactly right him at the very very close call but.
We knew it -- -- was going in and we just.
And with the thousands.
Geo synchronous satellites are of the view principally telecommunications or whether satellites.
Up there at that it -- 2000 miles.
I'm sort of surprised that something didn't get hit and that's a lot of stuff up there.
He -- a lot of stuff but it's still mostly empty space.
It's still mostly empty space out there you see when you see images of the solar system ran into the earth and the moon what we have to do in order to even see any thing as.
Blow up the sizes much much bigger than than they actually are in space and so anything you see on TV or.
A lunch box or something that is usually the sizes are very exaggerated in the world galvanize.
This by the the graphics -- Nassau and everyone's -- myself put together.
It also even though it's not to scale and it shows us what's going on here with these -- buys and -- you think about.
There are million estimated.
And nearest -- flying.
Toward us and some point.
I mean don't you think there -- to be a bigger effort to identify these asteroids.
I don't like that 99%.
Heading whether we don't know anything about.
We would love that we would love to have and -- a massive budget to be able to track everything so we've done a really good job of finding the biggest ones.
Making multiple measurements of them being able to another -- really really well so we can know exactly how close are coming.
How often are coming back in things like that but -- smaller ones that are the ones that we don't.
Now as much we can track them when they're really far away and.
Well the meteor that.
When I was a girl dollar line -- today I mean those that that video.
Of the sonic boom that was created and windows being blown out striking.
-- parts of striking a factory.
More than a thousand people injured that that's very serious.
In a little bit of a wake up -- -- because these little small ones that we don't yet have the capabilities to track we don't see them and -- -- of the Earth's atmosphere and they do and a the Earth's atmosphere more frequently than we realize I think.
And we have estimates and may be this as a once in the century thing -- once in A decade thing.
Might not always happen over popularized part of the earth but they are going to happen and they do cause damage and they are very dangerous.
Urgently -- we thank you for being with us appreciate -- -- so much.
