Socio-Economics History Blog

Socio-Economics History Blog

Here’s How to See that Huge Asteroid (52768) That’ll Safely Pass Earth in End April

by mosesman

  • Asteriod 52768 on 28/29 April 2020 will be in the Hydra (Serpent) Constellation at the tail end. See chart below. There are no evidence it is breaking apart. So, no reason to fear a collision with its fragments. I am keeping an eye on it (as with Comet Atlas) because of its biblical significance to Revelation 12 ie. fallen angels cast out of heaven by the tail of the dragon.
    –
  • Here’s How to See that Huge Asteroid (52768) That’ll Safely Pass Earth in End April
    by  in ASTRONOMY ESSENTIALS, https://earthsky.org/
    A huge asteroid – (52768) 1998 OR2 – will pass closest to Earth on April 29. Astronomers at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico begin detailed observations today. Charts, tips – plus how to watch online – here.
    –
    Have you heard the buzz about a big – very big – asteroid that’ll pass relatively close to Earth in April? Asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2 will pass at a safe distance, at some 4 million miles (6 million km), or about 16 times the Earth-moon distance. It’s big – the biggest asteroid due to fly by Earth this year – and will come closest to Earth on April 29, 2020. Astronomers at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico plan to study it from April 10 to 23, as it travels through space at 19,461 miles per hour (31,320 km/h).
    –
    The high-resolution radar images that will be obtained from Arecibo should provide scientists a better estimate of the space rock’s size and shape. According to current estimates, this space rock is probably at least a mile wide (1.8 km) and maybe 2 1/2 times that long (4.1 km).
    –
    Closest approach will be April 29 around 5:56 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (09:56 UTC; translate UTC to your time). Professional observatories have been pointing their telescopes at the huge space rock already. Amateur astronomers with smaller telescopes will also have an opportunity to see it as a slow-moving “star.” If that’s you, we give charts and tips for observers at the bottom of this post that should help.
    –
    No access to a telescope? No problem. The Virtual Telescope Project in Rome will host a free, online public viewing of the asteroid on April 28, 2020.
    –
    Let’s make it absolutely clear that there’s no chance of a collision between this asteroid and Earth. It’s true the object is classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid. The Center for Near Earth Objects defines such an object as one that comes as close to Earth as:
    –
    … 0.05 AU or less [about 19.5 lunar distances] and an absolute magnitude of 22.0 or less …
    –
    read more.
Orbit of asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2. It requires 3 years and 8 months to orbit the sun once. It gets nearly as far from the sun as Jupiter (about 5 times Earth’s distance from the sun). Image via NASA/ JPL.
This illustration shows the location of asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2 on the night of April 24, 2020, around 11:45 p.m. Central Daylight Time (04:45 Universal Time, April 25). As seen from central U.S., facing west-southwest. Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.
Location of asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2 around the nights of closest approach (April 28-29, 2020). Facing south, as seen from the central U.S. Illustration by Eddie Irizarry using Stellarium.

end