An asteroid one kilometer long will approach Earth on January 18

A large asteroid will approach Earth on January 18. The space rock is about 1 km long and will pass us a safe distance of 1.93 million km – roughly 5.15 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. Our planet will take place at 6:51 PM Brasilia Time.

The asteroid, classified as (7482) 1994 PC1, was discovered in 1994 by astronomer Robert McNutt. The last time it passed close to Earth was in 1933, at a distance of 1.1 million km. Despite being a little closer at the time, there were also no collision risks. Now, the object will pass us at a speed of about 19.56 km / s.

(7482) 1994 PC1 is an S-type asteroid, composed primarily of iron-magnesium silicates. In addition, it is also a member of the Apollo group of asteroids, which were formed from space rocks close to Earth. A short visit this month will give astronomers a good opportunity to study it.

Today, with more than 40 years of asteroid observations made in recent years, it has become possible to accurately determine the orbit of an object – so much so that, given its size and the distance in its near-Earth passages, it has been classified as a “potentially dangerous asteroid” worthwhile Remember that the distance between our planet and the rocks while passing is safe, so there is no risk of collision.

The passage of (7482) 1994 PC1 this month will be the closest in the next 200 years, but unfortunately the asteroid was not bright enough to be observed with the naked eye or binoculars. The good news is that if you have a telescope on hand, you should be able to see it moving across the night sky. Another option is to continue observing the asteroid Live with the Virtual Telescope project Day 18 from 5 pm (Brazilian time).

source: Science alertAnd EarthSkyAnd virtual telescope