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Asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2), tracked by NASA, is flying around the Sun on a path that will take it to the “near-Earth approach” this week. But the asteroid poses no threat to Earth, and instead, its flyby promises to be an excellent opportunity for astronomers to examine the close-up of the space rock in spatial terms.
The asteroid will fly beyond our planet on Wednesday, April 29, reaching 3.9 million miles (6.29 million km) from Earth’s center.
According to astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, head of the Virtual Telescope Project, the asteroid will likely be bright enough on the night of the flyby to be seen even through basic telescopes and binoculars.
Dr. Masi told Express.co.uk that he took a photo of the space rock on April 18, from the Virtual Telescope facility in Ceccano, Italy.
The surprising image was taken when the asteroid was about 10 million miles (16.1 million km) from Earth.
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The image is the average of three 1,800-second exposures taken with a 17-inch telescope.
Dr. Masi said on his website: “The asteroid is in the center of the image, a sharp point of light visible.
“The telescope followed the apparent movement of 1998 OR2.
When we photographed it, the 1998 OR2 asteroid was about 16.1 million km from us.
“This large 1.8 to 4.1 km asteroid will approach 6.3 million km from us next April 29, more than 16 times the average lunar distance: it will not hit us, becoming bright enough to be seen with modest optical equipment “
NASA said: “As they orbit the Sun, NEOs can occasionally get close to Earth.
“Keep in mind that an astronomically ‘close’ passage may be very far in human terms: millions or even tens of millions of kilometers.”
Approximately 99 percent of all known NEOs are asteroids.
NASA has also identified the asteroid OR2 as potentially dangerous due to its large size.
The space agency estimates that the rock is between 1.1 miles and 2.54 miles (1.8 km and 4.1 km) wide.
NASA said: “A relatively small number of near-Earth objects pass close enough to Earth and are large enough to warrant close observation.
“That is because the gravitational pull of the planets could, over time, cause an object’s orbital path to evolve into an orbit that crosses Earth.”
“This allows for the possibility of a future collision.”
The asteroid OR2, however, does not pose a threat to Earth, and astronomers have studied its orbit since 1998.
In 2011, the asteroid approached Jupiter.
