‘City killer’ asteroid to pass between Earth and Moon harmlessly on March 25 weekend
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The asteroid will miss Earth by about 173,000km, a little less than half the distance to the Moon.
PHOTO: NASA
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A newly discovered asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will pass harmlessly between Earth and the Moon’s orbit this weekend, offering astronomers the opportunity to study the space rock closely.
Estimated to be between 40m and 90m in diameter, the asteroid named 2023 DZ2 will be within 515,000km of the Moon on Saturday and, several hours later, fly past the Earth at about 28,000kmh.
It will miss Earth by about 173,000km, a little less than half the distance to the Moon.
The asteroid will be closest to Earth at around 3.50pm US Eastern time on Saturday (3.50am Singapore time on Sunday), according to science website EarthSky.
“There is no chance of this ‘city killer’ striking Earth, but its close approach offers a great opportunity for observations,” the European Space Agency’s planetary defence chief, Dr Richard Moissl, said in a statement.
The Virtual Telescope Project said the significant size of the asteroid
The Virtual Telescope Project will also provide a live webcast of 2023 DZ2
While close approaches are a regular occurrence, one by an asteroid of this size happens only about once per decade, providing a unique opportunity for science, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) said.
“Astronomers with the International Asteroid Warning Network are using this close approach to learn as much as possible about 2023 DZ2 in a short time period – good practice for #PlanetaryDefence in the future if a potential asteroid threat were ever discovered,” Nasa tweeted.
Discovered on Feb 27, 2023, DZ2 will not be seen again until 2026.
