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4 asteroids will zoom past Earth on Groundhog Day — including one the size of the Empire State Building
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Four asteroids will zoom past Earth on Friday — including one space rock as big as a skyscraper that will pass within 1.7 million miles of our planet, scientists say.
Don’t worry: There’s no chance of the big one hitting us, since it will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon.
NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies estimates the biggest asteroid headed our way is between 690 feet and 1,575 feet across. That means the asteroid could be similar in size to New York City’s Empire State Building or Chicago’s Willis Tower.
Discovered in 2008, the asteroid is designated as 2008 OS7. It won’t be back our way again until 2032, but it will be a much more distant encounter, staying 45 million miles away.
The harmless flyby is one of several encounters this week. Three much smaller asteroids also will harmlessly buzz Earth on Friday, no more than tens of yards across, with another two on Saturday. On Sunday, an asteroid roughly half the size of 2008 0S7 will swing by, staying 4.5 million miles away.
NASA said Thursday that this January, 34,151 near-Earth asteroids have been detected — including 50 space rocks found that measured wider than one kilometer.
NASA said there have been 107 near-Earth asteroids that passed closer to the moon in the past 365 days — including seven in the last 30 days.
Last month, a small asteroid entered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up as it hurtled through the skies above eastern Germany.
Last June, an astronomical observatory captured images of an asteroid flying “very close” to Earth and created a time-lapse of the event, showing the asteroid traveling at over 2,000 miles per hour.
NASA is also monitoring an asteroid that could collide with Earth on Valentine’s Day in 2046. But the European Space Agency estimates that the asteroid has just a 1 in 607 chance of impacting our planet.
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Questions on neurologist’s White House visits spark heated exchange over Biden’s health
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Russian playwright, theater director sentenced to prison on terrorism charges
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A Russian court on Monday convicted a theater director and a playwright of terrorism charges and sentenced them to six years each in prison, the latest in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent across the country that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have already been in jail for over a year awaiting trial.
Authorities claimed their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them.
In one hearing, Berkovich told the court that she staged the play in order to prevent terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, saying that she wrote it in order to prevent events like those depicted in the play.
The women’s lawyers pointed out at court hearings before the trial that the play was supported by the Russian Culture Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, Russia’s most prestigious national theater award. In 2019, the play was read to inmates of a women’s prison in Siberia, and Russia’s state penitentiary service praised it on its website, Petriychuk’s lawyer said.
Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP
The case against Berkovich and Petriychuk elicited outrage in Russia. An open letter in support of the two artists, started by the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was signed by more than 16,000 people since their arrest.
The play, the letter argued, “carries an absolutely clear anti-terrorist sentiment.”
Dozens of Russian actors, directors and journalists also signed affidavits urging the court to release the two from custody pending investigation and trial.
Immediately after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin unleashed a sweeping campaign of repression, unparalleled since the Soviet era. It has effectively criminalized any criticism of the war, with the authorities targeting not only prominent opposition figures who eventually received draconian prison terms, but anyone who spoke out against it, publicly or otherwise.
Pressure mounted on critical artists in Russia, too. Actors and directors were fired from state-run theaters, and musicians were blacklisted from performing in the country. Some were slapped with the label “foreign agent,” which carries additional government scrutiny and strong negative connotations. Many have left Russia.
Berkovich, who is raising two adopted daughters, refused to leave Russia and continued working with her independent theater production in Moscow, called Soso’s Daughters. Shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, she staged an anti-war picket and was jailed for 11 days.
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Which lawmakers are calling for Biden to drop out of 2024 race?
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