by A space rock up to 460 feet wide and dubbed the “Christmas asteroid” will swerve across Earth this holiday season.
The object, which poses no threat to our planet, will come within 420,000 miles (680,000 km) when it makes its closest approach on Thursday.
Stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere will have the best view of the asteroid, but those in Europe will also be able to spot it between now and December 19.
To celebrate the close approach, the European Space Agency is inviting amateur astronomers to find and photograph the space rock 2015 RN35.
To consult! A space rock up to 460 feet wide and dubbed the ‘Christmas asteroid’ will drift past Earth this holiday season (stock image)
Key details: The object, which poses no threat to our planet, will come within 420,000 miles (686km) when it makes its closest approach Thursday
‘We don’t call it a challenge for no reason. 2015 RN35 will not shine in the skies like the Star of Bethlehem did millennia ago, the agency said in a post on its website.
‘No. Smaller than the Statue of Liberty, this asteroid is quite small on astronomical scales. And as the flybys go, just under twice the distance to the moon, they’re unlikely to make the headlines.’
However, ESA said telescopes 11 inches (30 cm) and larger should be able to detect the Christmas asteroid.
‘We look forward to seeing your comments!’ the agency added.
“Use the hashtag #ESAChristmasAsteroid on social media to share your results, which we will share on our @esaoperations channel.”
The asteroid is of particular interest to scientists because it is not widely known.
Experts don’t know what it’s made of, exactly how big it is, or if it spins on its axis.
Furthermore, they don’t even know its orbit particularly well, although they have confirmed that at least it won’t hit Earth in the next century.
This uncertainty makes it similar to hundreds of thousands of similarly sized asteroids out there.
While nearly all of the massive planet killers have been found by scientists, most of the medium-sized asteroids like this Christmas have yet to be discovered.
Experts think there are several hundred thousand of them that could cause massive damage to a local area if they were to hit Earth.
The asteroid is of particular interest to scientists because it is not widely known. While nearly all of the massive planet killers have been found by scientists, most of the medium-sized asteroids like this Christmas have yet to be discovered.
Stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere will have the best view of the asteroid, but those in Europe will also be able to spot it between now and December 19
To help amateur and professional astronomers locate the natal asteroid, ESA has a ‘toolkit’ available free to all.
It allows people to view the orbit of the space rock and its December 15 flyby, including when it will be visible from different locations on Earth.
Observers using the new near-Earth Object (NEO) toolkit can also learn more about the Apollo asteroid group it belongs to, while planning how and where to locate it depending on exactly where in the world they are.
ESA’s asteroid toolkit was created by the agency’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Center (NEOCC), based in Rome.
“We use these tools every day to plan our observations, to visualize asteroid close approaches, and to help us understand and explain the various populations of asteroids in the Solar System and the risk we face,” said Juan-Luis Cano, head of the information system at the NEOCC.
“We want them to be as useful to the rest of the world as they are to us, because planetary defense is a global effort.”
Experts don’t know the orbit of Christmas asteroid particularly well, but they have confirmed that at least it won’t hit Earth in the next century
Richard Moissl, ESA’s head of planetary defense, said: “This is the kind of work ESA’s NEOCC does every day, often with even fainter asteroids using even larger telescopes, such as the Very Large Telescope (VLT). ) of the European Southern Observatory and others in NEOCC’s network of rapid access telescopes has spread around the world.
“With these observations, we determine the motion of asteroids and project their path into the future, to know if – when – an asteroid might hit.
‘As the recent DART impact showed, and as ESA’s Hera mission will expand, with sufficient warning an asteroid impact is the only natural disaster we can prevent.’
The Asteroid Hunting Toolkit includes the Observation Planner, Star Chart Viewer, Orbit Viewer, and Flight Viewer.
For more information on how to use it, click here.
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