Arecibo Radar / Twitter
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The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico watches the asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2 approaching this week, which has rather unusual outlines resembling a protective mask. He is not a threat, but he seems to know that our planet is facing a pandemic of a new coronavirus, a joke at the University of Central Florida (UCF)
“Small topographic features, such as the hills and ridges at one end of the 1998 OR2 asteroid, are amazing from a scientific point of view,” says Anna Virkki, head of the planetary radar at the observatory. “But since we all think about COVID-19, these features look like this as if 1998 OR2 remembers wearing a mask. “
This celestial body falls into the category of “potentially dangerous asteroids” because of its size and proximity of the passage from Earth: its diameter is about 2-4 km, the asteroid moves at a speed of 9 km per second. On April 29, 2020, it will fly 6.29 million km from Earth, which is almost 16 times further than the Moon, informs Moscow planetarium.
He does not pose any threat to our planet, but his passage caused a great response in the media. The peculiarity of this asteroid also lies in the fact that among all the “potentially dangerous” objects it is one of the largest and brightest, so it can be relatively easy to observe, which many telescopes in the world are doing now. Already now it can be seen even in the middle telescope.
He makes one revolution around the Sun in 1345 Earth days or 3.68 Earth years, moving as far as possible from it by 561 million km and approaching 152 million km. Its orbit passes near the Earth. In 2079, it will fly even closer – 1.77 million km from our planet.
#TeamRadar and the @NAICobservatory staff are taking the proper safety measures as we continue observations. This week we have been observing near-Earth asteroid 1998 OR2, which looks like it’s wearing a mask! It’s at least 1.5 km across and is passing 16 lunar distances away! pic.twitter.com/X2mQJCT2Qg
– Arecibo Radar (@AreciboRadar) April 18, 2020
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