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Nearly 4-Kilometre-Wide Asteroid, Largest In A Century, To Pass By Earth Today
An illustration of a large asteroid impacting Earth. (NASA)
The largest asteroid in more than a century, nearly 4-kilometres-wide, will whiz past the Earth on 1 September at a safe but relatively close distance of about 7 million km – a hair’s breadth in astronomical terms. According to NASA, the asteroid named Florence, hasn’t been this close to the Earth since the year 1890 and won’t be anywhere close to out planet until after 2500.
Asteroid Florence, discovered by Schelte Bus at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia in 1981, has been named in honour of Florence Nightingale. The asteroid takes close to 858 days to orbit the sun, but rarely comes this close to the planet due to the oval-shaped trajectory that it has. After travelling between the orbital trajectory of Earth and the next door neighbour Mars for over months, it will escape into the planetary void between Mars and Jupiter.
The asteroid will remain bright as it flies past the Earth, making it possible to see with even a modest backyard telescope. "Despite some interference from moonlight, 3122 Florence should be fairly easy to spot in even modest backyard telescopes," notes senior editor at Sky & Telescope magazine, Kelly Beatty.
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