See a Lincoln Memorial-sized asteroid move inside simply 56,000 miles of Earth right this moment

See a Lincoln Memorial-sized asteroid move inside simply 56,000 miles of Earth right this moment

By Adam Kovac edited by Claire Cameron

A newly found asteroid estimated to be about so long as the Lincoln Memorial is tall is ready to fly between the moon and Earth right this moment. Thankfully, scientists say there isn’t any threat of a collision with our planet.

The house rock was first noticed on May 10 by astronomers at Tucson’s Mount Lemmon Survey, the identical observatory that found a spectacular comet seen with the bare eye final 12 months. The asteroid, known as 2026 JH2, doubtless has a diameter of between 46 to 98.5 feet—for comparability, that’s between the peak of the Parthenon (45 toes tall) and the Lincoln Memorial (99 toes tall).

At its closest method round 5:23 P.M. EDT, the asteroid shall be inside about 56,700 miles from Earth—about 24 % of the gap from our planet to the moon—and touring at roughly 20,470 miles per hour relative to Earth. That distance means it would move under the orbit of enormous space-based observatories like NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Telescope and above most business satellites. That proximity additionally means its trajectory shall be seen to newbie telescopes. The Virtual Telescope Project may also live stream the near-miss beginning at 3:45 P.M. EDT.

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The asteroid is in Earth’s neighborhood for the second, however its orbit will take it swinging out previous Mars towards Jupiter’s orbital aircraft, in response to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Each of the asteroid’s journeys across the Sun takes about 1,374 days, however its subsequent close-approach to Earth will not come till 2090, in response to the European Space Agency.

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