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SALT LAKE CITY -- A small asteroid called 2010 AL30 is flying close to Earth Wednesday.
Asteroid 2010 AL30, discovered by the LINEAR survey of MIT's Lincoln Laboratories on Jan. 10, will make a close approach to the Earth's surface to within 76,000 miles.
NASA says the asteroid is about 10-15 meters across.
NASA says because its orbital period is nearly identical to the Earth's one year period, some have suggested it may be a man-made rocket stage in orbit about the Sun. However, this object's orbit reaches the orbit of Venus at its closest point to the Sun and nearly out to the orbit of Mars at its furthest point, crossing the Earth's orbit at a very steep angle, and this actually makes it very unlikely that 2010 AL30 is a rocket stage.
Patrick Wiggins, a NASA ambassador to Utah, took pictures of the asteroid as it was flying by early Wednesday morning.
In the western United States it may be bright enough to be seen with a good amateur telescope.
