Asteroid 450 m wide grazes Earth

Asteroid 2013 BO76 will fly close to Earth at a speed of 48,300 km/hour. Although classified as a “potentially hazardous” asteroid (PHA), 2013 BO76 is expected to approach Earth at 5:55 a.m. on March 25 (Hanoi time) at a safe distance, according to the Center for Astrophysics Research. (CNEOS) NASA.

The concept of “close approach” is relative. As they orbit the Sun, asteroids sometimes take a “close approach” from an astronomer’s perspective, but in reality they are still much farther from Earth than the Moon. In the case of BO76 2013, this asteroid will come about 5 million km from Earth, 13 times the Earth-Moon distance.

However, the 2013 BO76 is still notable for its large size. According to CNEOS data, this asteroid is estimated to be 200 – 450 m wide. The size of the 2013 BO76 is one of the reasons it is given a PHA rating. According to CNEOS, asteroids that are more than 7.5 million kilometers from Earth or less than 152 meters in diameter are not considered PHAs.

Orbital predictions suggest that 2013 BO76 will not approach Earth until at least 2193. Scientists currently have no data on its flight path after that time.

On March 5, Gianluca Masi, an astronomer at the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy, photographed 2013 BO76 moving in space. In the image, this asteroid is a small bright spot in the center, marked with a white arrow, surrounded by faint stars. At the time, 2013 BO76 was about 24 million kilometers from Earth.

CNEOS data shows that in the next 60 days, the closest large asteroid to Earth will be 2012 UX68. This asteroid will come a million kilometers from Earth, about 2.7 times farther than the Moon. 2012 UX68 has an estimated maximum diameter of about 91 m, expected to fly close to Earth on 15 May.

Kam Thao (Based on News Week)

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