Scientists revealed an asteroid dubbed by some as a "city killer" came closer to the Earth than the moon this week.
科學家透露本周有一顆被科學家戲稱為「城市殺手」的小行星距離地球比月球還近。
The Washington Post reported that scientists apparently had no idea it was coming.
《華盛頓郵報》報導稱科學家顯然不知道這顆小行星臨近。
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英裡/秒的速度飛奔向地球，然後從地球邊掠過。
According to NASA, it was about 45,000 miles from Earth on July 25.
NASA稱7月25日它距離地球約45,000英裡遠。
"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.
天文學教授Alan Duffy對《雪梨先驅晨報》說：「撞擊威力超過廣島原子彈爆炸能量的30倍」。
Duffy called the zooming space rock a "city killer."
Duffy將這顆超高速的太空巖石稱為「城市殺手」。
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.
天文學家說它並不構成直接威脅，但他們承認並不知道這個巨大巖石朝我們飛來，因為它來自太陽的方向。
The asteroid, about the size of a large boulder, only became visible a few days ago.
這顆約為巨石大小的小行星幾天前才能被觀察到。
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顆，偶爾會出現。2013年有一顆小行星撞進了俄羅斯，造成1,600人受傷。
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.
四月份一次會議上，全球的科學家被問及假設一顆足以摧毀一個大城市的小行星八年內會撞擊地球，該如何應對。
The likely response would be using space ships to give the asteroid a nudge, one scientist said.
一位科學家說：「可行的方法是利用宇宙飛船推一下這顆小行星」。
"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行星科學部負責人Lori Glaze博士說：「我們需要做的就是將其速度變快一點或變慢一點，讓其經過地球軌道時要麼往前偏一點，要麼往後偏一點」。