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The director of the planetary radar of the Arecibo Observatory, Anne Virkki, wore a face mask next to a radar image of the “masked” asteroid 1998 OR2.
The Arecibo Observatory, a radio telescope in Puerto Rico, is tracking an asteroid approaching Earth this week and, while not posing a threat, the asteroid somehow seems to know that this planet of humans is facing a pandemic.
The University of Central Florida shared a radar image of the “masked” asteroid (left), the blurry textured image offers plenty of room for active imaginations to play.
“Small-scale topographic features, like hills and ridges at one end of the 1998 OR2 asteroid, are scientifically fascinating,” says Anne Virkki, director of the observatory’s planetary radar. “But since we’re all thinking about COVID-19, these features make it seem like OR2 1998 remembers wearing a mask.”
The 1998 OR2 asteroid is approximately 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) long and will make its closest approach to Earth on April 29.
Asteroid 1998 OR2 was about 7.5 million miles from Earth (about 12 million km) when astronomers acquired the images to perform the animation below.
In 2079, the 1998 OR2 asteroid will pass Earth about 3.5 times closer than this year.
Although this asteroid is not projected to impact Earth, understanding the characteristics of these types of objects is important to improve impact risk mitigation technologies, says Virkki, head of planetary radar at the observatory.
The Arecibo data confirmed that the 1998 OR2 is approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) wide and rotates once every 4.1 hours, as suggested by observations made with optical telescopes. If an asteroid posing an impact threat to Earth is discovered, knowing those characteristics would be important in planning a response.
Via ~ CNET | Source – UCF.EDU
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