By the Earth flew a potentially hazardous asteroid

29 APR 1998 OR2 asteroid flew by our planet at a distance of 6.3 million kilometers (about 16 times greater than the distance from the moon to the Earth). For comparison: June 3, Venus will be at a distance of 43 million km from Earth.

This radar image from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, made April 18, shows that the shape of the asteroid is approximately spherical, and the size is about 1.6 km away.

The distance was safe, the probability of collision with our planet was not. However, the asteroid flew close enough that Amateur astronomers can see space objects with my telescopes. However, he shone like a star of 10th or 11th magnitude.

For the first time 1998 OR2 was observed in 1987 and the official opening took place in 1998 at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii. Classified as potentially dangerous celestial object from the group of Cupids. However, the orbit and the trajectory calculated to 2197 year, so it is a conditional threat, on the scale of hundreds of years. The following "goodbye" to the Earth will be in April 2079 (2 million km) in April 2127 years (2.5 million km).

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»