Nasa has declared that the exploding meteor over Russia was nothing more than a coincidence when it comes to the close fly-by of the asteroid. But are they telling us everything? Or do they not want us to panic. Have you ever heard of the Roche limit? It speaks to how a satellite may disintegrate due to tidal forces created in it by the body it orbits. It all depends on the masses of the two bodies, their distance, and the density of the satellite.
If the asteroid lost a piece due to earth’s tidal forces, or even if a piece broke off for the same reason near another large body during its trek through space, that could explain the “coincidence.”
Of course, the orbits of the meteor and the asteroid could have been completely different–I don’t know, and NASA hasn’t shared that information, as far as I know. Anyway, check out this writeup on the Roche limit:
