A asteroid big enough to raze a city will pass between the Land and the orbit of the Moon this weekend without touching any of the celestial bodies.
Saturday’s close encounter will offer astronomers the opportunity to study a rock space just a little more than 168 thousand kilometers away. That is less than half the distance between the Land and the MoonSo it will be visible with binoculars and telescopes little ones.
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Although Approaches of asteroids are common, the POT said that it is rare that one so big gets that close, and what happens roughly once every decade. Scientists estimate its size at between 40 and 90 meters.
He asteroid known as 2023 DZ2 was discovered a month ago and will pass to less than 515 thousand kilometers away from the Moon on Saturday, and on ocean Indian several hours later, at a speed of some 28 thousand kilometers per hour.
“There is no none possibility that this ‘killer of cities’ impact against the Landbut its proximity offers a great chance to do observations”stated in a statement Richard moissldirector of planetary defense for the European Space Agency.
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The astronomers of the International Asteroid Warning Network they think it is a good practice for the defending planetary in case a asteroid dangerous headed towards us, according to the POT.
He Virtual telescope projects will offer a transmission live by Internet of the passage of the asteroid.
He asteroid will not cross our path again until 2026. Although at first there seemed to be the possibility of colliding with the Landthe scientists ruled it out.