Another near miss This week, on 19 December 2004, a small asteroid made the second closest pass ever observed by telescope. It plunged past Earth at a distance of just under 36,000 kilometres, which is below the altitude of geostationary satellites. The space rock is estimated to have a diameter of about 5 metres, small enough to explode in the atmosphere if it had hit Earth directly. The closest known approach by an asteroid occurred in March of this year.
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17.12.04
2004 – the fourth warmest year With just two weeks to go until the end of the year, scientists from the World Meteorological Organization project that 2004 will be the fourth warmest year on record. The hottest year ever recorded was 1998.
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10.12.04
Hazard fact – 10 December 2004
Mt Taranaki/Egmont is considered to be dormant, but not extinct. Scientists first suspected in the 1930s that the volcano had been recently active when they discovered fragments of volcanic pumice lodged in the forks of large Rimu trees, near a road being constructed to the East Egmont Mountain House.
The Earthquake Commission has received over 400 claims for damage from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake at 9:26 am on Tuesday, 23 November. The earthquake was centred in the Tasman Sea about 250 kilometres west of Invercargill. 2:10 PM
