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A “City Killer” asteroid hurtles between Earth and the Moon
The size of the “roundabout” is estimated at up to 90 metres; On Saturday it will pass us 168,000 kilometers over the Indian Ocean.
Rare event: An illustration of an asteroid flying by. The fact that planets that can annihilate a city fly so close to us only happens once every ten years.
photo: iStockphoto (Getty Images)
An asteroid the size of a cathedral will miss Earth on Saturday. Astronomers from the La Palma Observatory in the Canary Islands discovered the asteroid at the end of February. The US space agency NASA said that the planet called 2023 DZ2, nicknamed “dizzy”, will first pass the moon at a distance of 515,000 km and hours later over the Indian Ocean at a distance of 168,000 km. This is less than half the distance between Earth and the Moon.
NASA said that the size of the asteroid ranges between 40 and 90 meters, it travels at a speed of 28 thousand kilometers per hour, and it has the ability to eliminate an entire city. It won’t be dangerous, but it’s interesting. Due to its small distance from Earth, it can also be observed with small telescopes and even binoculars. “There’s no way the ‘city killer’ could have hit Earth, but its close approach offers a great opportunity for observation,” said Richard Moisel, ESA’s director of planetary defense. the Virtual Telescope Project It will show a live webcast of this approach.
What is the best time to see the asteroid?
The closest distance of the asteroid to Earth is determined according to the astronomy website Earth’s sky It is expected on March 25th at 8:51 PM CET. However, the best time to observe from the Northern Hemisphere was at night from March 24 to 25, as confirmed by Professor Thomas Schildknecht of the Astronomical Institute at the University of Bern. The asteroid will then be below the constellation Leo. At its closest point to Earth, on the evening of March 25, it was already on the far side of the Earth, and therefore no longer visible to us. Schildknecht asserts that there are many objects the size of “2023 DZ2” – and therefore less than 150 meters in diameter – that remain undiscovered. Many will only be tracked when they get close to the ground. Therefore, it is important to search the sky for such asteroids and follow the orbits of new bodies in detail.
According to NASA, asteroids hurtle past Earth again and again, but objects of this size only approach them about every ten years. Astronomers from the International Asteroid Warning Network consider “2023 DZ2” a good practice for planetary defenses in the event of a dangerous asteroid heading our way. In three years I will he Go back to earth. Contrary to initial warnings, scientists are now ruling out that he could strike them next.
Just a tiny point in the starry sky Two days ago: On March 22, Asteroid 2023 DZ2 was visible only as a tiny point in the sky.
Image: Gianluca Massi/Virtual Telescope Project (Keystone)
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