On Feb. 15, asteroid 2012 DA14, discovered a year ago, cleared Earth by a scant 17,200 miles. The same day, a smaller, unrelated asteroid that no one saw coming exploded 12 to 15 miles above Russia’s Chelyabinsk region. The shock wave shattered windows, injuring more than 1,000 people. Events that day highlight the risk that near-Earth objects (NEOs) can pose – although to some extent, humans can counter them.
NEOs are asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them close to Earth. They range in size from about three feet to several miles across. The asteroid or comet that punched a 110-mile-wide crater in the Yucatán Peninsula 65 million years ago, doing in the dinosaurs, has been estimated at six miles across.
Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.
The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.
Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.
Explore values journalism About us
Your subscription to The Christian Science Monitor has expired. You can renew your subscription or continue to use the site without a subscription.
If you have questions about your account, please contact customer service or call us at 1-617-450-2300.
This message will appear once per week unless you renew or log out.
Your session to The Christian Science Monitor has expired. We logged you out.
If you have questions about your account, please contact customer service or call us at 1-617-450-2300.
You don’t have a Christian Science Monitor subscription yet.
If you have questions about your account, please contact customer service or call us at 1-617-450-2300.
