Florida, United States.
The largest asteroid that the Earth in 2021 will pass about two million kilometers on Sunday, March 21 without it risk of collision, but it will allow it astronomers take a closer look at this celestial body.
Baptized 2001 FO32 and less than a kilometer in diameter, it will be 124,000 km / h, “faster than most asteroids “ circulating near Earth, according to the NASA.
“There is no risk of it collision with our planet “, explained the US space agency. At your point of closer approach, the asteroid will still be over five times bigger to those between the Earth and the moon.
However, a divorce considered close enough to be classified as “potentially dangerous”, according to official categories.
The asteroid, known as the God of chaos, was discovered in March 2001 and his trajectory ehas since been followed thereafter.
“We currently know little about this object, so this very close encounter gives us an incredible opportunity to learn a lot from it,” said Lance Benner, scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, on which the Center for Proximate Objects Studies depends. the Earth (CNEOS).
By studying the light reflected by being surface, For example, researchers can get a better picture of its composition.
Amaterus astronomers in the southern hemisphere and low northern latitudes should be able to see this asteroid using telescopes of medium size, ”Paul Chodas, director of CNEOS, estimated in a statement.
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None of the cataloged major asteroids have options for it crash into the earth in the next century, and it is highly unlikely that the undiscovered will be able to, NASA assured.
Despite everything, he adds, “how much more information can we gather about the objects, mission designers can be better prepared to distract them if anyone ever achieves threaten the earth. “