NASA has locked its eyes on a “potentially hazardous” near-earth asteroid that is 890ft in diameter – or about the size of a football stadium.
Asteroid 2008 OS7 is set to make its closest pass of Earth on Friday 2 February.
AlamyThere are plenty of “potentially hazardous asteroids” or PHAs in our Solar System[/caption]
However, it’s closest approach will come no closer than 1,770,000 miles of Earth.
The Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory Asteroid Watch website has outlined the giant space rock as one to watch.
Will I be able to see asteroid 2008 OS7?
Amateur astronomers will have to stand-down, however, as 2008 OS7 will not be visible to the naked eye or with your average telescope.
According to Dr Kim: “Unfortunately, asteroids are generally too faint to have been detected by the current techniques and surveys, so it’s very hard to see by our naked eyes.”
“The only asteroid at all visible to the naked eye so far are Pallas and Vesta, having diameters of about 500km.”
There are plenty of “potentially hazardous asteroids” or PHAs in our Solar System.
Dr Kim explains: “There are more than millions of asteroids in our Solar System, of which [roughly] 2,350 asteroids have been classified as PHAs.
“The next significant approach to Earth by a PHA will be the 99942 Apophis on April 14, 2029.”
As space rocks go, asteroid 2008 OS7 is pretty minor.
According to Dr Minjae Kim, Research Fellow in the Department of Physics at Warwick University, 2008 OS7 is “a very small asteroid”.
But because its orbit intersects with that of Earth, the asteroid has been classified as a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)”.
Dr Kim added: “One of the most intriguing aspects of the 2008 OS7 is its estimated diameter based on its luminosity and reflective properties, ranging from 0.221 to 0.494 kilometres.
“This places it in the category of a small to moderately-sized asteroid, roughly equivalent to the size of a football field.
“We don’t need to worry about it too much as this asteroid will not enter Earth’s atmosphere, while this will still approach close to the Earth.”
The next time asteroid 2008 OS7 will pass by Earth is in 962 days, when it completes its orbit around the sun.
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