Hours left before the giant asteroid passes between the Earth and the Moon! An exciting and curious anticipation...
A giant asteroid will pass harmlessly between Earth and Moon's orbit over the weekend. Scientists will be able to closely examine the asteroid during this transit.
It is common for asteroids to pass near Earth's orbit. However, the American Space and Aviation Administration (NASA) states that such a large asteroid passes this close approximately once in 10 years.
The diameter of the asteroid named 2023 DZ2, discovered a month ago, is estimated to be between 40 and 90 meters.
The asteroid, which will pass at a distance of 515 thousand km from the Moon on Saturday, will pass at a distance of 68 thousand km from the Earth at 2:30 on Sunday at a speed of 28 thousand km per hour.
This is less than half the distance between the Moon and Earth and can be observed from this distance with binoculars and small telescopes.
Richard Moissl, head of the European Space Agency's planetary defense department, said that the asteroid 'destroying cities' is unlikely to hit Earth, and that its close pass offers a great opportunity for observation.
The asteroid's transit can be watched live on the Virtual Telescope Project website.
2023 Asteroid DZ2 will pass close to Earth again in 2026. It was initially thought that there might be a small chance of hitting Earth during that transit, but astronomers later said it was highly unlikely.
