小行星近距离掠过地球，威力等于30颗广岛原子弹

Scientists revealed an asteroid dubbed by some as a "city killer" came closer to the Earth than the moon this week.

科学家透露本周有一颗被科学家戏称为“城市杀手”的小行星距离地球比月球还近。

The Washington Post reported that scientists apparently had no idea it was coming.

《华盛顿邮报》报道称科学家显然不知道这颗小行星临近。

Asteroid 2019 OK came hurtling toward Earth at a speed of nearly 15 miles a second, before flying past.

小行星2019 OK以接近15英里/秒的速度飞奔向地球，然后从地球边掠过。

According to NASA, it was about 45,000 miles from Earth on July 25.

NASA称7月25日它距离地球约45,000英里远。

"It would have hit with over 30 times the energy of the atomic blast at Hiroshima," astronomer professor Alan Duffy told the Sydney Morning Herald.

天文学教授Alan Duffy对《悉尼先驱晨报》说：“撞击威力超过广岛原子弹爆炸能量的30倍”。

Duffy called the zooming space rock a "city killer."

Duffy将这颗超高速的太空岩石称为“城市杀手”。

Astronomers say it posed no immediate threat but they admit they had no idea the giant rock was headed our way, because it came from the direction of the sun.

天文学家说它并不构成直接威胁，但他们承认并不知道这个巨大岩石朝我们飞来，因为它来自太阳的方向。

The asteroid, about the size of a large boulder, only became visible a few days ago.

这颗约为巨石大小的小行星几天前才能被观察到。

There are 20,000 near-Earth asteroids and they do occasionally make an appearance. In 2013, one slammed into Russia, injuring 1,600 people.

近地小行星有20,000颗，偶尔会出现。2013年有一颗小行星撞进了俄罗斯，造成1,600人受伤。

At a conference in April, scientists from around the world were asked how to respond to a make-believe scenario in which an asteroid big enough to destroy a major city might be on track to strike the Earth in eight years.

四月份一次会议上，全球的科学家被问及假设一颗足以摧毁一个大城市的小行星八年内会撞击地球，该如何应对。

The likely response would be using space ships to give the asteroid a nudge, one scientist said.

一位科学家说：“可行的方法是利用宇宙飞船推一下这颗小行星”。

"All we have to do is change its speed a little faster or a little slower so that when it crosses Earth's orbit, it crosses either in front of us or behind us," said Dr. Lori Glaze, director of planetary science at NASA.

NASA行星科学部负责人Lori Glaze博士说：“我们需要做的就是将其速度变快一点或变慢一点，让其经过地球轨道时要么往前偏一点，要么往后偏一点”。