An asteroid named 2002NY40 passed yesterday at a distance of about 580 thousand km from the Earth - about 1.5 times the distance of the Moon from the Earth
by Tamara Traubman
An asteroid named 2002NY40 passed yesterday at a distance of about 580 thousand km from the Earth - about 1.5 times the distance of the Moon from the Earth.
There is no danger that the asteroid will collide with the Earth. What is special about it is the relative proximity in which it passed to the Earth, which allowed professional astronomers - and amateur astronomers with less sophisticated equipment - to photograph and collect data about it.
The American Space Agency (NASA) stated that such an event occurs approximately once every 50 years.
The message stated that "the last time a similar incident occurred was on August 31, 1925 An asteroid of a similar size, named 2001CU11, then passed outside the Earth's orbit. This event remained unknown for 77 years, until astronomers using modern telescopes spotted the asteroid and reconstructed its orbit.
"Aresbio", a huge telescope that receives radio waves and is located in Puerto Rico, aimed to receive signals coming from the direction of the asteroid. The received signals will help to identify the shape of the asteroid.
According to Yigal Fat-El, head of the Israeli Astronomical Society, there is currently no known asteroid that could pose a danger to the Earth. However, according to him, it is clear that most of the asteroids in the vicinity of the Earth have not yet been discovered. "The fact that only a few weeks passed between the discovery of the asteroid at the beginning of July, and its imminent passage, illustrates the importance of monitoring and early detection of these bodies, the purpose of which is to allow preparation for impact control," said Fat-El.
In the pictures: the orbit of the asteroid marked with the small line at a difference of a few minutes. Photography, the observatory in Givatayim
