The largest asteroid that will pass Earth this year will pass by on March 21, the US space agency Nasa announces.
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The moon shines over the Atacama Desert in Chile, where huge radio antennas form a giant telescope. Stock Photography.
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There is no risk of the space rock colliding with the earth, as it is estimated to pass two million kilometers from us. It is over five times as far as the distance between the earth and the moon, but still close enough for the asteroid to be classified as potentially dangerous.
The passage allows astronomers to get a rare chance to take a closer look at an asteroid.
“We know very little about this object, so this close encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to learn more about this asteroid,” said Lance Benner, a lead researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The asteroid was discovered 20 years ago and was named 2001 FO32. It is estimated to have a diameter of just over 900 meters and swirls past us at a speed of around 124,000 kilometers per hour, which is faster than most other asteroids that pass the earth.
Those in the southern hemisphere have the greatest chance of seeing it.
“Amateur astronomers in the southern hemisphere and in the southern part of the northern hemisphere should be able to see the asteroid with medium-sized telescopes,” says Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies.
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