A space rock up to 460 feet wide and ‘Christmas Asteroid’ will speed past Earth this festive season.
The object, which poses no threat to our planet, will come within 420,000 miles (680,000km) when it makes its closest approach on Thursday.
Starwatchers in the southern hemisphere will get the best view of the asteroid – but those in Europe will also be able to see it between today and December 19.
To mark the imminent approach, the European Space Agency is urging amateur astronomers to find and photograph the space stone 2015 RN35.
Look up! A space rock measuring 460 feet wide, dubbed the ‘Christmas asteroid’, will speed past Earth this festive season (stock image)
Key details: The object, which poses no threat to our planet, will come within 420,000 miles (686 km) at closest approach on Thursday.
We don’t call it a challenge for no reason. “The 2015 RN35 will not shine in the sky the way the star of Bethlehem did thousands of years ago.”
‘Alright. Smaller than the Statue of Liberty, this asteroid is pretty small on astronomical scales. And when it comes to close flights, which are slightly less than twice the distance to the moon, it’s unlikely to make newspaper headlines.’
Still, the ESA said telescopes 11 inches (30 cm) and larger should be able to detect the Christmas asteroid.
“We look forward to seeing your observations!” Agency added.
“Use the hashtag #ESACchristmasAsteroid on social media to share your results, which we will share on our @esaoperations channel.”
The asteroid is particularly interesting to scientists as it is not well known.
Experts do not know what it is made of, exactly how big it is, whether it rotates on its axis.
Nor do they know its exact orbit, although they have confirmed that it won’t crash into Earth, at least in the next century.
This uncertainty ensures that there are like hundreds of thousands of similarly sized asteroids out there.
While nearly all major planetary killers have been found by scientists, many of the mid-size asteroids like this Christmas are yet to be discovered.
Experts think there are several hundred thousand of them that could do major damage to a local area if they hit Earth.
The asteroid is particularly interesting to scientists because it is not well known. While nearly all major planetary killers have been found by scientists, many of the mid-size asteroids like this Christmas are yet to be discovered.
Stargazers in the southern hemisphere will get the best view of the asteroid – but those in Europe will also be able to see it between today and December 19th.
To help amateur and professional astronomers detect the Christmas asteroid, ESA has a ‘toolkit’ that anyone can use for free.
It allows people to visualize the orbit of the space rock and its flight on December 15, including when it will appear from different parts of Earth.
Observers using the New Earth Near Object (NEO) Toolkit can learn more about the Apollo asteroid group they belong to as they plan how and where to detect it based on their exact location on Earth.
ESA’s asteroid toolkit was created by the agency’s Rome-based Center for Near Earth Object Coordination (NEOCC).
“We use these tools every day to plan our observations, visualize asteroid close approaches, and help us understand and explain the various asteroid populations in the Solar System and the risk we face,” said information systems manager Juan-Luis Cano. NEOC.
“We want them to be useful to us as well as to the rest of the world, because planetary defense is a global effort.”
Experts don’t know very well the orbit of the Christmas asteroid, but they have confirmed that it won’t hit Earth, at least in the next century.
Richard Moissl, ESA’s head of planetary defense, said: “This is the kind of work that ESA’s NEOCC does every day, often on even fainter asteroids using larger telescopes like the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and others. NEOCC’s network of fast-reach telescopes has spread all over the world.
With these observations, we determine the movement of asteroids and design the path into the future to know if – when – an asteroid will strike.
“As the recent DART impact shows and ESA’s Hera mission will expand, an asteroid impact is the only natural disaster we can prevent with adequate warning.”
The asteroid hunt toolset includes: Observation Planning Tool, Sky Graph Viewer, Orbit Visualization Tool and Flyby Visualization Tool.
For more information on how to use, Click here.
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