Large asteroid races past Earth at 124,000 kilometers per hour

The asteroid "2001 FO32" is racing towards earth.

Although it is considered a "possibly dangerous asteroid", the flyby is safe.

Nevertheless, astronomers take a close look inside.

• Another large

  asteroid is

  approaching

  Earth.

  “2001 FO32”

  is larger than many New York skyscrapers.

• The

  asteroid "2001 FO32"

  is considered a "possibly dangerous asteroid" - but it

  does not

  pose

  a threat to

  Earth

  in the foreseeable future.

• You can find news from astronomy and news from space research on our topic pages.

Only recently the notorious

asteroid

"Apophis" drew the attention of astronomers from all over the world *, now the next

asteroid

is already

approaching.

The celestial body with the cryptic name

"2001 FO32" will

approach

Earth

on March 21, 2021 to

within

about two million kilometers.

He is no immediate danger - but nevertheless as from the space agencies NASA and ESA

"potentially hazardous asteroid"

, ie as a

"potentially hazardous asteroid

classified".

This has to do with the flight path of the

asteroid

, coupled with its estimated size: If an

asteroid

comes

closer to Earth than 7.5 million kilometers and has a diameter of more than 140 meters, it is "potentially dangerous".

The reason for this is that asteroids of this size

can cause great regional destruction

if they

hit

land; if they hit an ocean, a huge tsunami occurs.

Paul Chodas, head of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at

NASA

, gives the all-clear right away: "We know the path of 2001 FO32 around the sun very well, it has been observed since it was discovered 20 years ago".

There is no possibility that the

asteroid

of the

Earth

come closer than about two million kilometers supplemented Chodas.

"2001 FO32": Largest known asteroid that will approach Earth in 2021

"2001 FO32" is the

largest known asteroid

that will come

close to

Earth

in 2021

.

When it was discovered in March 2001, it was estimated to be about one kilometer in size.

More recent observations with the help of the “Neowise” space telescope lead researchers to assume that the

asteroid

has a

diameter of 440 to 680 meters

.

For comparison: The “One World Trade Center”, the tallest skyscraper in New York City, is 541 meters high.

Asteroid "2001 FO32" races past the earth at 124,000 km / h

As it

flies past Earth

, the

asteroid has

an unusually high speed: it races through

space

at around 124,000 kilometers per hour

.

This is partly due to the

asteroid's orbit

, which brings it closer to the sun than the planet Mercury and twice as far from the sun as the planet Mars.

On its journey through the interior of the

solar system

, the

asteroid "2001 FO32" gains

momentum, as also reported by ruhr24.de - and races past the

earth

particularly quickly

.

Researchers do not want to miss

the relatively close flyby of the relatively large

asteroid

: In the days around the flyby on March 21, the IRTF, an infrared telescope operated by NASA in Hawaii, will observe the asteroid.

"We're trying to do geology with a telescope," explains Vishnu Reddy, asteroid expert at the University of Arizona.

Researchers want to analyze asteroid "2001 FO32" as it flies by

The researchers' plan: They want to analyze the light spectrum

emitted by

the

asteroid "2001 FO32"

.

The minerals on the surface of the asteroid reflect some wavelengths of light, while others absorb them.

If one examines the spectrum of the light

emitted

by the

asteroid

, one can determine the chemical “fingerprint” of the materials on the surface.

For comparison, meteorites that have been found on

earth

should then

be used.

Name of the asteroid:	2001 FO32
Discovery:	March 23, 2001
Discoverer:	LINEAR project by US Air Force, NASA and MIT
Estimated diameter:	440-680 meters
Earth flyby:	March 21, 2021
Distance when flyby:	2.018 million kilometers
Flyby speed:	approx. 124,000 km / h

If you know what the

asteroid

is made of, you can draw conclusions about other properties of the celestial body: If it contains a lot of iron, it should also be denser and therefore more massive than a

stony asteroid of

a comparable size.

If the observations show that the asteroid is dark, this could be an indication that the asteroid is largely made of coal.

The celestial body could then possibly be the nucleus of an earlier comet.

Nasa also observes asteroid "2001 FO32" with radio telescopes

In addition to the observations in the infrared spectrum,

radar observations

could also be

carried out by

NASA's

Deep Space Network (DSN)

, according to

NASA's

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

With these observations, the researchers could get a general overview of the

asteroid "2001 FO32"

.

The use of the large

NASA radio telescopes

in California, Spain and Australia could not only

reveal

details about the orbit of the

asteroid

and enable a more precise estimate of its dimensions - with the help of the radar data, the astronomers could even take a look at surface structures such as large stones or craters catch.

In addition, the data could show whether the

asteroid is accompanied

by a small moon.

About 15 percent of the

near-Earth asteroids

with a size comparable to "2001 FO32" have a small moon, explains Lance Benner in a communication from the JPL.

That would have been shown by observations from the past 20 years.

Little is known about the

asteroid “2001 FO32”

at the

moment

, which is why

flying

past

Earth is

“a great opportunity” to “learn a great deal about this asteroid,” Benner continues.

Astronomy: Even amateurs can see the asteroid "2001 FO32" in the sky

For

amateur astronomers

, the

flyby of

the

asteroid “2001 FO32” is

a unique opportunity: Anyone living in the southern hemisphere or in low northern latitudes “should be able to see the asteroid,” explains Paul Chodas.

However, you need a

telescope

with an opening of at least 8 inches (20 centimeters) to see the

asteroid

.

The

asteroid

will be particularly bright

in the nights before March 21, but it should not be so easy to find.

Chodas limits: "Observers may need star maps to find him".

The

asteroid

races past Earth at breathtaking speed and quickly says goodbye to this region of the

solar system

.

"2001 FO32" will not fly

past

Earth

again until 2052

- during this

flyby

the celestial body will keep a little more distance than in 2021: There will then be around 2.8 million kilometers between Earth and

asteroid "2001 FO32"

.

In contrast, the next time a particularly notorious celestial body returns: When the asteroid "Apopis" flies past the earth again on April 13, 2029 *, there are only about 31,000 kilometers between the earth's surface and the

asteroid

.

(Tanja Banner)

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