New Delhi
Anne Virkki, head of Planetary Radar on the Arecibo Observatory and asteroid 1998 OR2 pose with their masks. (Image: Arecibo Observatory)
An asteroid, named 1998 OR2, is scheduled to move by Earth tomorrow on April 29 at a distance of 6.2 million kilometres. Even although the asteroid is in a particular class of near-Earth asteroid known as Potentially Hazardous Objects (PHOs), the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico confirmed that it poses no risk to the planet.
The observatory began observing the asteroid on April 13 and saved an eye fixed on it till April 23, after which it was now not seen from the ability. Arecibo confirmed that the house rock is 2 km in diameter and rotates as soon as each 4.1 hours. It will safely fly by Earth on April 29 at its closest method being 16 instances additional than the Moon.
The PHOs are labeled as house rocks which can be greater than 140 metres and are available inside eight million kilometres of Earth’s orbit. At the second, no recognized PHO poses a right away hazard to Earth however scientists maintain an eye fixed their future trajectories to find out the danger.
A workforce on the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico took this range-Doppler radar picture of Asteroid 1998OR2 on April 17. (Image: Arecibo Observatory)
“The radar measurements allow us to know more precisely where the asteroid will be in the future, including its future close approaches to Earth,” Flaviane Venditti, a analysis scientist on the Arecibo Observatory mentioned.
“In 2079, asteroid 1998 OR2 will pass Earth about 3.5 times closer than it will this year, so it is important to know its orbit precisely,” she added.
The observatory additionally captured the picture of the 1998 OR2 and it options make it appear to be it’s carrying a masks, mentioned Anne Virkki, the top of Planetary Radar at Arecibo. “The small-scale topographic features such as hills and ridges on one end of asteroid 1998 OR2 are fascinating scientifically,” she added.
