A massive asteroid first discovered 20 years ago will reach 1.25 million kilometers from Earth on Sunday before it is launched into deep space, NASA revealed.
Named in 2001 FO32, it is twice the size of the Eiffel Tower with a diameter of 2,230 feet, making it the largest space rock the Earth has ever seen.
As the 2001 FO32 makes its journey with the inner solar system, the asteroid “increases in speed like a skateboard rolling through a half-pipe and then decreases in speed after being launched into deep space. and turning to the sun, “NASA explained.
The space agency says it “poses no danger to Earth,” because even at its closest point it will be more than five times farther from our planet than the moon.
It will take its closest focus on March 21, but will only be visible to astronomers using larger telescopes in the southern hemisphere and low-latitude northern regions.
The asteroid, named FO32 2001, was first discovered 20 years ago and has a diameter of 2,230 feet, making it the largest space rock that has ever passed Earth in what we have since year.
The space rock “poses no danger to the Earth,” as it is 1.25 million kilometers away, which is more than five times farther from the Earth than the moon.
Despite being more than a million miles away, NASA says it will give astronomers a “rare close-up” look at the rock relic since the dawn of the solar system.
“Astronomers fond of the southern hemisphere and low latitudes of the north should be able to see this asteroid using moderate-sized telescopes with apertures of at least 8 inches in the nights before the closest approach,” Chodas said.
However, he added that it will not be easy to find, as it is small and at some distance, and said “they will probably need star graphics to find it.”
According to NASA’s “Near Earth Object” guidelines, it will still be close enough for the 2001 FO32 to be classified as a “potentially dangerous asteroid.”
This is partly because its orbit crosses the Earth’s orbital path, even though it is not “in line” or close to Earth in the near or even distant future, NASA said.
The space agency said in a statement that “there is no threat of a collision with our planet now or for the next few centuries.”
NASA said the 2001 FO32 would go at about 77,000 miles per hour faster than the speed at which most asteroids meet Earth.
The reason for the unusually fast approach of the asteroid is its very inclined and elongated (or eccentric) orbit around the sun.
It is an orbit that tilts 39 degrees toward the Earth’s orbital plane. This orbit brings the asteroid closer to the sun than Mercury and twice as close to the Sun as Mars.
The space rock completes an orbit of the sun every 810 days (approximately 2 1/4 years).
“Little is currently known about this object, so the very close encounter offers an exceptional opportunity to learn a lot about this asteroid,” said Lance Benner, chief scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NASA said astronomers hope to gain a better understanding of the asteroid’s size and a rough idea of its composition by studying the light that reflects its surface.
The March 21 meeting will provide astronomers with the opportunity to more accurately understand the size and albedo of the asteroid (how bright or reflective its surface is) and a rough idea of its composition.
“When sunlight reaches the surface of an asteroid, the minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths while reflecting others,” NASA said.
“By studying the spectrum of light reflected at the surface, astronomers can measure the chemical ‘fingerprints’ of minerals on the asteroid’s surface.
This will be achieved, in part, with the use of NASA’s Infrared Telescope Installation, a 10.5-foot telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea.
He will observe the asteroid during the days leading up to the approximate approach using his working horse infrared spectrograph, SpeX.
“We’re trying to do geology with a telescope,” said Vishnu Reddy, an associate professor in the University of Arizona’s lunar and planetary laboratory in Tucson.
This diagram represents the elongated and inclined orbit of the 2001 FO32 as it travels around the Sun (white ellipse). Due to this orbit, when the asteroid approaches Earth, it will travel at an unusually fast speed of 124,000 km / h.
As the 2001 FO32 makes its journey with the inner solar system, the asteroid “increases in speed like a skateboard rolling through a half-pipe and then decreases in speed after being launched into deep space. and turning to the sun, “NASA explained.
When sunlight reaches the surface of an asteroid, the minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths of light, while reflecting others. Scientists know which rocks reflect which wavelengths can determine the composition of the asteroid from light.
“We will use IRTF to get the infrared spectrum to see its chemical composition,” Reddy explained. “Once we know, we can make comparisons with meteorites on Earth to find out what minerals the 2001 FO32 contains.”
For example, a low or darker asteroid may contain a lot of carbon and could also be the core of a long-dead comet, according to NASA.
Other observatories will use radar to blow up signals from the rock, allowing them to determine its orbit, its dimensions, its rotation and observe surface features such as pebbles and craters.
“Observations dating back twenty years revealed that about 15% of asteroids close to Earth in size comparable to the 2001 FO32 have a small moon,” said Lance Benner, JPL’s chief scientist.
“Little is currently known about this object, so the very close encounter offers an exceptional opportunity to learn a lot about this asteroid.”
This is a view from inside the dome of NASA’s infrared telescope that will be used to measure the infrared spectrum of the 2001 asteroid FO32
Amateur astronomers in some parts of the planet should be able to make their own observations, especially those in the southern hemisphere.
“The asteroid will be brighter as it moves across the southern sky,” said Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).
“Astronomers fond of the southern hemisphere and low latitudes of the north should be able to see this asteroid using moderate-sized telescopes with apertures of at least eight inches in the nights before the nearest approach,” he added.
However, due to its distance and relatively small size compared to planets or stars, “they will probably need star charts to find it.”
After its brief visit, the 2001 FO32 will continue its journey, not reaching as close to Earth until 2052, when it will pass approximately seven lunar distances, or 1.75 million miles.
NASA said that more than 95% of asteroids close to Earth the size of FO32 from 2001 or larger have been cataloged and that none of them have any chance of affecting our planet during the next century.