Here's how to see that huge asteroid that'll safely pass Earth in April (earthsky.org)

[eppur_se_muova]

Posted by Eddie Irizarry in Astronomy Essentials | Space | March 9, 2020

Have you heard the buzz about a big – very big – asteroid that’ll pass close in April? We have! No, it won’t hit our planet. In fact, it won’t have any effects on Earth. Still, excitement is building among both professional and amateur astronomers about the upcoming flyby of asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2 – the biggest asteroid due to fly by Earth this year – coming closest on April 29, 2020. This space rock is probably at least a mile wide (1.8 km) and maybe 2 1/2 times that big (4.1 km). Closest approach is April 29 around 5:56 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (09:56 UTC; translate UTC to your time). Professional observatories are already pointing their telescopes at the huge space rock. Amateur astronomers with smaller telescopes will have an opportunity to see it as a slow-moving “star” very soon; 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 absolutely clear that there’s no chance of a collision between this asteroid and Earth. Asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2 will pass at some 4 million miles (6 million km), or about 16 times the Earth-moon distance. 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 …

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During its April 2020 pass, this asteroid will at no time be bright enough to view with the unaided eye. However, it’s estimated to reach a visual magnitude of around 10 to 11, which means observers with at least 6-inch or 8-inch telescopes (the number indicates the size of the primary mirror) will see the asteroid (very slowly) moving in front of the stars!
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more: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/asteroid-52768-1998-or2-april-2020-how-to-see?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I'm surprised the damn thing isn't going to hit us.

But maybe they're going to do the frogs and locusts after the plague but before the meteor.

[EarnestPutz]

2. Thanks for posting this. It's "drive-by" science for most readers, but....

....it's good to have a reality based counterpoint to our politics. Interesting stuff.