Tomorrow morning a large asteroid more than a mile wide will pass close to Earth. Argus columnist Jon Powell - author of Cosmic Debris: What It Is and What We Can Do About It - who warns "it's only a matter of time before we get hit by a sizeable chunk of rock from space", has everything you need to know:
A LARGE asteroid, named 1998 OR2, will make a close-approach to Earth on Wednesday, April 29, just before 11am GMT.
Classed by astronomers as a near-Earth object, (NEO) and Potentially Hazardous Asteroid, (PHA), 1998 OR2 is one of the largest known of all NEOs.
While it won't strike the Earth, a strike by an asteroid of this size would be "large enough to cause global effects" according to NASA.
The fly-by comes just days after a much smaller asteroid, named 2020 HX3, flew past Earth at approximately 157,000 miles. The asteroid, measuring between 11 and 24 metres, skimmed the Earth on Friday, April 24, at a speed of 33,000 mph.
MORE NEWS:
- Risca crash: man arrested in connection with collision
- Duo threatened to blow up Blaenau Gwent council's civic centre after making bomb hoax calls
- Drug addict jailed after snatching £1,500 iPhone from Newport city centre drinker
Every year, the Earth is hit by about 6,100 meteors large enough to reach the ground - or about 17 every day. The vast majority fall unnoticed, in uninhabited areas.
Orbits of Known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHA)
1998 OR2 Asteroid - Tracking Map - Courtesy of Sky and Telescope
1998 OR2 - Statistics
- Discovered: Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii, July 1998
- Composition: Stone
- Diameter: 1.5 miles
- Speed: 19,461 mph
- Rotation Period, (one spin completion): Every 4.1 hours
- Closest Distance to Earth: 3.9 million miles, approximately 16 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon
- Next rendezvous with Earth: 2079, when it will pass within about one million miles of Earth.
Where to See 1998 OR2
Tuesday, April 28: The asteroid passes through the constellation of Hydra. Peak brightness around magnitude 10.8 during the close-approach window from April 30 through May 3rd. A 4.5-inch or a large pair of binoculars, 12 x 50 and upwards, should capture the asteroid in the early evening sky.
Virtual Telescope Live Webcast: https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/
Finder Charts/Simulations: https://theskylive.com/1998or2-info
Some scientists have joked that the latest image of the asteroid makes it look like it is wearing a mask due to dust and debris passing around it.
"The small-scale topographic features such as hills and ridges on one end of asteroid 1998 OR2 are fascinating scientifically," said Dr Anne Virkki, head of Planetary Radar at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
"But since we are all thinking about Covid-19 these features make it look like 1998 OR2 remembered to wear a mask."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here