Published photos of the asteroid, which will fly in April in 7.4 million km from the Earth

Published photos of the asteroid, which will fly in April in 7.4 million km from the Earth
Published photos of the asteroid, which will fly in April in 7.4 million km from the Earth
Anonim

Photos of the large asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2, taken by astronomers participating in the Virtual Telescope Project, were published on Friday by Space.com. In a series of images taken from a 180-second exposure, the celestial body appears as a bright point that moves against the background of the stars.

The asteroid, with a diameter of 1.8-4.1 km, will fly 6, 3 million km from the Earth at 12:56 Moscow time on April 29. At the moment of its closest approach, it will be 16 times farther from the Earth than the Moon. The orbit of the asteroid is between the orbits of the Earth and Mars, its next approach to our planet will occur on May 18, 2031. Then, according to NASA experts, it will fly at a distance of about 19 million km, and in 2048 and 2062 - at an even greater distance, but on April 16, 2079, it will approach the Earth by 1.8 million km.

Until now, astronomers have found in near-earth space, that is, within 0.05 astronomical units or 7 million km, about 8 thousand asteroids, the size of which exceeds 140 m. According to NASA experts, such celestial bodies are classified as "potentially dangerous" … The total number of large asteroids in near-earth space can reach 25 thousand, Space.com noted.

In October 2021, NASA plans to launch the Lucy robotic probe to study seven asteroids in the solar system. In April 2025, it should come close to the small asteroid Donald Johansson in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which was discovered in March 1981. Then, in 2027-2028, the station will fly around asteroids Eurybat, Polimela, Levk and Or, different in shape. In addition, in 2033, the probe will study the binary asteroid Patroclus-Menethius.

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