NASA has captured radar look-alike of a fresh discovered , potentially wild asteroid as it tumble towards its closest approach with the Earth .
On July 27 , the NASA - funded Asteroid Terrestrial - impact Last Alert System ( ATLAS ) onMauna Loain Hawai’i spotted a relatively declamatory asteroid heading for a stuffy approach with our planet . NASA save a stuffy eye onpotentially hazardous asteroids , and take as many radar observations of it as possible as it head in our direction .
At its closest attack on September 17 , the object passed at a distance of about 0.00668 AU , with 1 AU being the distance between the Earth and the Sun . That sound fairly close , and it is – it ’s about 2.6 time the length from the Earth to the Moon , or about 1 million kilometer ( 620,000 miles ) .
The asteroid was imaged on September 16.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Named 2024 ON after the year and time of its discovery , radar icon taken on September 16 by the Goldstone Solar System Radar Group show that the asteroid is a contact binary program , where two object have been drawn togetherslowlyby gravity to form something looking like a quad snowman .
The asteroid is pretty sizeable , with radar images evoke it is about 350 measure ( 1,150 foot ) long , with one of the " lobes " separated by a joined neck . Looking at the asteroid , astronomer were capable to see features on its surface large than 3.75 meters ( 12.3 substructure ) , and by observing its way of life over about 6 hr were able to predict its next orbit .
While the asteroid ’s orbit sends it betweenEarth and Jupiter , it does not look to pose any terror to either .
" This asteroid is classified as potentially hazardous , but it does not bewilder a hazard to Earth for the foreseeable future,“NASA explainedin a program line . " These Goldstone mensuration have allowed scientist to greatly reduce the uncertainties in the asteroid ’s distance from Earth and in its future movement for many decades . "
The next close approach path will take berth in 2035 , when the objective is foreshadow to evanesce at a distance of around0.32697 AU . In the next 100 years , orbital predictions show that it will not approach any nigher than it did in the first place this month , meaning you are free to enjoy pictures of the peanut asteroid without vex about aDeep Impactsituation .
