September 1st, 2017 is not only the beginning of a new month, the day of remembrance for Eid al Adha in the Muslim world, or the start of the new school year in the United States.
It is also the day that Asteroid Florence will be passing only 4.4 million miles away from the Earth. Best of all, it should be visible to either the naked eye or simple light telescopes, if pointed in the proper direction and at the right time.
Space.com had a great write up discussing the way that the asteroid was going to travel between the planets in it's grand trip, and their video helps to visualize the areas that the asteroid traverses when we can't immediately visualize it, but you can't blame people for being both excited and concerned when a 4.8 kilometer wide rock flies by the planet at breakneck speeds.
I hope that you guys and dolls get a chance to check it out, and that this near-Earth object and out home world never meet.
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