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A " city - killer whale " asteroid has just made its penny-pinching approach to Earth since record began , sailing safely past our planet at more than eight meter the modal aloofness between Earth and the moon . Despite being classified as " potentially hazardous , " the gigantic space rock poses no menace to our satellite . But for the first time ever , it will be visible via amateur telescopes over the next three nights ( April 15 - April 17 ) .
The hefty asteroid , key out 2013 NK4 , is around 2,000 feet ( 610 meter ) wide , making it about twice the size of the " god of topsy-turvyness " asteroid Apophis , which willmake a superclose access to Earthin 2029,EarthSky describe .
The space rock made its closest approach to Earth at 10:50 a.m. EDT Monday ( April 15 ) , when it reach around 2 million miles ( 3.2 million kilometers ) from our major planet , accord toNASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) . At the meter , it was travel at around 37,000 mph ( 59,000 km / h ) .
The asteroid isbig enough to destruct a large cityand cause serious environmental impacts if it were to smash into Earth . According toNASA ’s calculations , the space careen will likely never get anywhere near affect Earth . However , due to its size and propinquity to our planet , it is still considered apotentially risky asteroid .
While the asteroid posture no terror to Earth , its close approach is still of great involvement to uranologist , who are currently tracking the space rock with radiocommunication telescope . They hope to capture specialized radar images , known as delay - Doppler images , which should help shed more light on the asteroid ’s size and shape .
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But you do n’t have to be a professional stargazer to take a peep at this place rock . The asteroid will be visible to anyone with adecent uranology telescopeuntil April 17 . However , due to its orientation proportional to Earth , the asteroid will be most distinctly seeable on April 16 and April 17 , according to EarthSky . you could determine out where it will be in the sky by usingTheSkyLive.com .
2013 NK4 orbit the sun every 378 sidereal day on an elliptical orbit , allot to EarthSky.com .
Since it was first hear in 2013 , the asteroid has made 11 near approaches to our planet and will retrovert for another , more distant flyby on April 23 , 2025 , according to theJPL Small - Body Database . However , 2013 NK4 has never been make out close enough to be seen with a backyard telescope .
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simulation of the asteroid ’s flight , which construct the space rock ’s arena around the sun as far back as 1900 , also show that this is the asteroid ’s closest approach in at least 125 years . However , the same simulations show that it will make an even closer feeler to Earth in 2055 , when it will reach a minimum distance of around 1.3 million knot ( 2.1 million km ) from our satellite — or less than six times the mean space between Earth and the moon .
So , if you want to see this mammoth outer space rock for yourself , check that to head alfresco over the next few night . crossbreed your fingerbreadth for clear skies , because you wo n’t get another probability to spot it for more than 30 old age .
