Asteroid to (safely) pass Earth on Tuesday, but it’ll be close

Scientists say an asteroid about 174 feet in diameter is scheduled to pass Earth later today at around 6:05 p.m. ET, but there are no risks of a collision happening. Which means we’ll all get to see game two between the Cavaliers and Celtics later tonight.

Asteroid 2010 WC9 will travel at speeds up to 28,600 mph when it passes through the outer limits of Earth’s atmosphere and the moon—or about 126,109 miles away.

Although it’ll safely whiz by, scientists say this is the closest the asteroid will have gotten in a 300-year span. But it’s not like you’ll be able to look up and see it—that is, unless you look through a high-powered telescope.

The asteroid was originally discovered in 2010, but astronomers soon lost track of its trajectory. It was only last week when the asteroid again reared its head.

In the Tweet below, you can see the asteroid hurtling through space, which is said to take between 8 to 20 minutes to fully rotate.

We continue tracking 2010 WC9 leading up to it’s close approach tomorrow at a distance of 203,000 km#SpotTheAsteroid@AsteroidDay @NEOShieldTeam @CloseApproaches @AsteroidTracker @AstronomyFM @AstronomyNow @BBCStargazing @exploreplanets @neiltyson @ProfBrianCox @earthskyscience pic.twitter.com/FKhzi25C9e

— Northolt Branch Obs (@NBObservatories) May 14, 2018

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2018/05/15/asteroid-to-safely-pass-earth-on-tuesday-but-itll-be-close/