Mile-long asteroid to make close approach to Earth on April 29, NASA says
The NASA logo is displayed at the agency's booth during CES 2018 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 11, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The space agency said that an asteroid will make a close-approach to Earth on April 29. (Photo by Ethan Mill
A mile-long asteroid is set to pass by Earth on April 29, but no need to worry, says NASA. The asteroid “will not even come close” to hitting the planet, the space agency said.
“Asteroid 1998 OR2 poses no threat to our planet, but we can still learn a lot by studying it,” the space agency said in a Facebook post.
Near-earth objects are defined as objects that could “pass by our planet within 30 million miles, while NASA pays closer watch to objects that could pass within 5 million miles of Earth, like this asteroid, to study them and predict their trajectory into the future, the organization said in a video.
According to Space.com, “the asteroid is currently too faint to see with most backyard telescopes, but it has been visible in larger telescopes for a while,” but still may be viewed in smaller telescopes during its approach.
For those without their own telescope at home, a live stream of the asteroid’s approach can be viewed at the Virtual Telescope Project, Space.com notes.
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