Largest asteroid of 2021 that's twice the size of the Eiffel Tower will zip past Earth THIS WEEKEND before being flung back into deep space 'like a skateboarder rolling down a halfpipe', NASA reveals
- Asteroid 2001 F032 is 2,230ft across and was first seen about 20 years ago
- NASA says it will pass 1.25 million miles from the Earth on March 21, 2021
- The rock poses no threat to the planet now or for centuries to come, said NASA
- However, it will be a useful target for astronomers hoping to get a better understanding of the size, trajectory and composition of these large asteroidsA massive asteroid first discovered 20 years ago will come within 1.25 million miles of the Earth on Sunday, before being flung out into deep space, NASA revealed.
Dubbed 2001 FO32, it is twice the size of the Eiffel Tower at 2,230ft in diameter, making it the largest space rock to pass the Earth so far this year.
As 2001 FO32 makes its inner solar system journey, the asteroid 'picks up speed like a skateboarder rolling down a halfpipe, and then slows after being flung back out into deep space and swinging back toward the sun,' NASA explained. The space agency says it 'poses no danger to the Earth' as even at its closest point it will be more than five times further way from our planet than the moon.
It will make its closest approach on March 21, but is only visible to astronomers using larger telescopes in the southern hemisphere and low latitude northern regions.
The asteroid, dubbed 2001 FO32 was first discovered 20 years ago and is 2,230ft in diameter, making it the largest space rock to pass the Earth so far this year
The space rock 'poses no danger to the Earth' as it will be 1.25 million miles away, which is more than five times further from the Earth than the moon
Despite being more than a million miles away, NASA says it will give astronomers a 'rare close look' at the rocky relic from the dawn of the solar system.
'Amateur astronomers in the southern hemisphere and at low northern latitudes should be able to see this asteroid using moderate size telescopes with apertures of at least 8 inches in the nights leading up to closest approach,' said Chodas.
However, he added it won't be easy to find as it is small and some distance away, saying they 'will probably need star charts to find it.'
Under NASA 'Near Earth Object' guidelines, it will still be close enough for 2001 FO32 to be classified as a 'potentially hazardous asteroid.'
This is in part because its orbit crosses Earth's orbital path - although not 'in line' or close to Earth in the near or even distant future, said NASA.
The space agency said in a statement that 'there is no threat of a collision with our planet now or for centuries to come.'
NASA said 2001 FO32 will pass by at about 77,000 miles per hour faster than the speed at which most asteroids encounter Earth.
The reason for the asteroid's unusually speedy close approach is its highly inclined and elongated (or eccentric) orbit around the sun.
This is an orbit that is tilted 39 degrees to Earth's orbital plane. This orbit takes the asteroid closer to the sun than Mercury and twice as far from the sun as Mars.
The space rock completes one orbit of the sun every 810 days (about 2 1/4 years).
'Currently, little is known about this object, so the very close encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to learn a great deal about this asteroid,' said Lance Benner, principal scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NASA said astronomers hope to get a better understanding of the asteroid's size and a rough idea of its composition by studying light reflecting off its surface.
The March 21 encounter will provide an opportunity for astronomers to get a more precise understanding of the asteroid's size and albedo, - how bright, or reflective, its surface is - and a rough idea of its composition. 'When sunlight hits an asteroid's surface, minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths while reflecting others,' NASA said.
'By studying the spectrum of light reflecting off the surface, astronomers can measure the chemical 'fingerprints' of the minerals on the surface of the asteroid.
This will be achieved, in part, with the use of NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility, a 10.5ft telescope atop Hawaii's Mauna Kea.
It will observe the asteroid in the days leading up to close approach using its workhorse infrared spectrograph, SpeX.
'We're trying to do geology with a telescope,' said Vishnu Reddy, associate professor at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson.
This diagram depicts the elongated and inclined orbit of 2001 FO32 as it travels around the Sun (white ellipse). Because of this orbit, when the asteroid makes its close approach to Earth, it will be traveling at an unusually fast speed of 77,000 mph (124,000 kph)
As 2001 FO32 makes its inner solar system journey, the asteroid 'picks up speed like a skateboarder rolling down a halfpipe, and then slows after being flung back out into deep space and swinging back toward the sun,' NASA explained
When sunlight hits the surface of an asteroid minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths of light, while reflecting others. Scientists know which rocks reflect which wavelengths so can determine the composition of the asteroid from light.
'We're going to use the IRTF to get the infrared spectrum to see its chemical makeup,' Reddy explained. 'Once we know that, we can make comparisons with meteorites on Earth to find out what minerals 2001 FO32 contains.'
For example, a low albedo, or darker, asteroid may contain a lot of carbon and so could be the nucleus of a long-dead comet, according to NASA.
Other observatories will use radar to bounce signals off the rock, allowing them to determine its orbit, dimensions, rotation and look at surface features such as boulders and craters.
'Observations dating back 20 years revealed that about 15% of near-Earth asteroids comparable in size to 2001 FO32 have a small moon,' said Lance Benner, principal scientist at JPL.
'Currently little is known about this object, so the very close encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to learn a great deal about this asteroid.'
This is a view from inside the dome of NASAs Infrared Telescope Facility which will be used to measure the infrared spectrum of asteroid 2001 FO32
Amateur astronomers in some parts of the globe should be able to conduct their own observations, particularly those in the southern hemisphere.
'The asteroid will be brightest while it moves through southern skies, Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), said.
'Amateur astronomers in the southern hemisphere and at low northern latitudes should be able to see this asteroid using moderate size telescopes with apertures of at least eight inches in the nights leading up to closest approach,' he added.
However, because of its distance, and relatively small size compared to planets or stars, 'they will probably need star charts to find it.'
After its brief visit, 2001 FO32 will continue its voyage, not coming this close to Earth until 2052, when it will pass by at about seven lunar distances, or 1.75 million miles
NASA said more than 95 per cent of near-Earth asteroids the size of 2001 FO32 or larger have been catalogued and none of them has any chance of impacting our planet over the next century.
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