A “probably hazardous” asteroid the dimensions of a soccer stadium will zoom previous our planet within the early hours tomorrow morning (Dec. 4) — and you may watch it stay.
The gigantic area rock, which is touring at roughly 27,500 miles per hour (44,300 kilometers per hour), will attain a minimal distance of 1.37 million miles (2.2 million kilometers) from Earth at 0:27 ET — its closest method to our planet on file, in line with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
The historic flyby may be watched through a free livestream from the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP) which begins at 13:30 ET at present (Dec. 3). 2020 XR may also be seen to 8 inch (20 centimeter) telescopes, in line with a press release by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Asteroid 2020 XR is classed by NASA as a close to Earth object, or NEO, which means that its orbit typically brings it inside 1.3 astronomical models (AU) of the solar — equal to 1.3 occasions the typical distance between the solar and Earth.
Any NEOs that method inside 4,650,000 miles (7,500,000 km) of Earth and are bigger than 500 ft (150 meters) in diameter are thought of to be “probably hazardous.” However, the flyby on Dec. 4 doesn’t pose any risk to our planet.
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“When astronomers first found 2020 XR, they thought it had a small likelihood of impacting Earth in 2028,” Juan Luis Cano, coordinator of the ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Center, mentioned within the assertion. “But by going again and discovering the asteroid in older information, they had been capable of refine its trajectory and rule out any hazard.”
The asteroid measures roughly 1,200 ft (366 m) in diameter, making it massive sufficient to wipe out a small metropolis.
The area rock final approached Earth in December 1977 — earlier than it was found. However, on the time, its minimal distance was roughly 10 million miles (16 million km) additional away than what is predicted throughout tonight’s encounter, JPL estimates.
2020 XR shouldn’t be anticipated to method this shut once more till a minimum of the 12 months 2196. It is subsequent forecast to fly previous our planet in November 2028. However, the minimal distance shall be a lot additional away, at an estimated 11.3 million miles (18.2 million km).
