On this Monday morning, Asteroid 2001 FO32 is particularly close to Earth. According to current information, it is the largest asteroid that will pass us this year. According to US media, the 2001 FO32 is the size of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
But “near” in the case of the asteroid means two million kilometers away, which is five times as far from the earth as the moon. Only in 33 years will 2001 F032 come so close to us again.
That is why NASA, astronomers and astronomy fans around the world are following the approach of the giant asteroid with particular interest.
“We know the orbit of 2001 FO32 very well because it was discovered 20 years ago and has been observed ever since,” said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) in Southern California. “There’s no chance the asteroid will get closer than 1.25 million miles to Earth.”
Some websites wanted to stream the encounter with the asteroid via telescope LIVE.
According to NASA, asteroid 2001 FO32 is “traveling faster than most asteroids” that are passing our planet. At a speed of 128,000 kilometers per hour, it moves one kilometer every second. For comparison: For the route between Paris and Brussels, the asteroid would take a little more than five minutes – the TGV travel time is one and a half hours.
Discovered 20 years ago
FO32 was discovered in 2001 on March 23, 2001 by scientists at the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) Observatory in New Mexico. The US space agency hopes to gain new knowledge about the composition of the asteroid. “This close flyby is an incredible opportunity to learn a lot,” said Lance Benner, researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA’s IRTF infrared telescope in Hawaii is currently being used to observe the asteroid. A network of three antenna-equipped stations, called DSN (Deep Space Network), also observes the asteroid’s orbit and rotational speed.
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