Tonight: largest asteroid in 2021 will fly past Earth at unusually high speed, where to see

Today, the asteroid 2001 FO32 will fly past the Earth, which will become the largest one to approach our planet in 2021.

Tonight: largest asteroid in 2021 will fly past Earth at unusually high speed, where to see

It will approach the minimum distance from the Earth after 19:00 Moscow time. You can watch the broadcast, for example, on the Virtual Telescope Project resource.

The minimum distance from the asteroid to the Earth will be about 2 million km, which is 5.25 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The asteroid has no danger of a collision with the Earth, this is even reported in a press release from NASA. An unusually high speed of the asteroid is also noted – it will fly past the Earth faster than most asteroids – about 124,000 km / h.

Tonight: largest asteroid in 2021 will fly past Earth at unusually high speed, where to see

Scientists initially believed, based on optical measurements, that the asteroid was about 1 kilometer wide. Then it was found that it is somewhat smaller – from 440 to 680 meters. But even with the smallest possible size, it is the largest asteroid that will fly past Earth in 2021.

.

You may also like