Dark, massive asteroid to fly by Earth on May 31

[Judi Lynn]

7. Asteroid nine times the size of the QE2 liner to sail pass Earth

Asteroid nine times the size of the QE2 liner to sail pass Earth
John von Radowitz
Saturday 18 May 2013

An asteroid nine times larger than the QE2 is due to sail past the Earth later this month.
Luckily, the giant space rock will get no closer than 3.6 million miles, or 15 times the distance between the Earth and the moon.

Coincidentally, scientists have named the asteroid 1998 QE2. The name has nothing to do with the transatlantic Cunard liner - it follows a code used for newly-discovered asteroids by the US Minor Planet Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The asteroid is believed to be about 1.7 miles long, or nine times the length of the Queen Elizabeth 2 ship.
It was discovered on August 19, 1998, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (Linear) programme near Socorro, New Mexico.

The object makes its closest approach to Earth at 9.59pm, UK time, on May 31.

More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/asteroid-nine-times-the-size-of-the-qe2-liner-to-sail-pass-earth-8621999.html