A big asteroid is about to make its closest approach to Earth in 100 years . Over the coming days , it ’s so close you should be able to observe it yourself with only the assistance of field glasses .
Asteroid ( 887 ) Alinda was first discovered by German astronomerMax Wolfat Heidelberg Observatory on January 3 , 1918 . While asteroid can range in size from the in truth gargantuan Ceres – really a dwarf major planet with a diam of about940 kilometers(585 miles ) – to around2 meters(6 feet ) across , objects expectant than 1 km across make up a pocket-size share of the near - ground asteroid universe . With an figure diam of 4.2 kilometre , aroundManhattan Island’swidth , ( 887 ) Alinda is somewhat of a rarity – and a biggie .
As explain by theVirtual Telescope Project , the asteroid is one of the five orotund asteroids to approach the Earth at a distance close than 15 million kilometers ( 9.3 million miles ) from now until the class 2200 .
Asteroids larger than 1 kilometer are rare.Image credit: Alan Chamberlin (JPL/Caltech)
While not view as a potentially hazardous asteroid , as its orbit has been augur to not lay out it on class with Earth , its bizarre orbit will still give us a few close encounters . On its closest approach in a hundred years , taking place today , the asteroid will be0.08220Astronomical Units ( AU ) away from Earth , with one AU being the space between the Earth and the Sun .
While that may look passably close – and it is in astronomic terms – that ’s 12.3 million kilometers , or 32 times the average space to the Moon . At this space , the object will be pretty bright in the sky for the next 10 days . The Virtual Telescope will supply live feedof the object , starting January 8 , 2025 , 20:30 UTC .
If you miss the livestream , there will be another on January 12 , beginning at 17:30 UTC , when the aim will top out in brightness . However , you should also be able to see the object with binoculars or a minor scope , especially in the Northern hemisphere , in the constellations of Orion and Gemini . An object this bright , large , and close only comes around once every 10 .
After its close glide path , 887 Alinda wo n’t make another tight attack until January 25 , 2087 , when it will come within0.16633 AUfrom Earth .
