Largest Asteroid Of The Year To Buzz By Earth This Weekend
An asteroid being tracked by NASA will make it s closest pass by Earth this weekend.
Asteroid 2001 FO32 will skip by earth at about 77,000 MPH, Sunday. The space rock was discovered 20 years ago, and has been tracked by NASA s Center for Near Earth Object Studies ever since. The near-Earth asteroid will make its closest approach at a distance of about 1.25 million miles, or 5 1/4 times the distance from Earth to the Moon. There is no threat of a collision with our planet now, or for centuries to come.
In astronomical terms, 1.25 million miles is a close call. Hence why scientists have been keeping a close eye on the estimated 1,300 to 2,230 feet-wide asteroid. The fly-by on Sunday favors the southern hemisphere for the best viewing. Even if we could see the rock skip by up here in the north, a moderately sized telescope with an aperture of at least 8 inches would be needed to see 2001 FO32.
Large asteroid to pass by Earth on March 21 NASA
Published March 12, 2021 8:32am The largest asteroid to pass by Earth this year will approach within some 1.25 million miles (two million kilometers) of our planet on March 21, NASA said Thursday. The US space agency said it will allow astronomers to get a rare close look at an asteroid. The asteroid, 2001 FO32, is estimated to be about 3,000 feet in diameter and was discovered 20 years ago, NASA said. We know the orbital path of 2001 FO32 around the Sun very accurately, said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies. There is no chance the asteroid will get any closer to Earth than 1.25 million miles.
| UPDATED: 08:44, Wed, Jan 20, 2021
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When Asteroid 2001 FO32 breezes past our planet, the rock will be travelling so fast through space, astronomers on Earth will likely be able to detect its motion in from t of stars in real-time. Arguably the most spectacular near-Earth asteroid event of the entire year, the space rock will zoom past our planet on March 21, according the the Center for Near-Earth Studies (CNEOS).