Both astronomers and sky enthusiasts are attentive to the slight approach of the huge asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2), a space rock whose size is estimated between 1.8 and 4.1 kilometers in diameter.
The closest approach occurs on April 29, 2020, but several observatories are already observing it.
The Caribbean Astronomy Society (SAC) indicated that the asteroid 52768 can be seen looking like an apparent star moving “very slowly.”
The educational entity clarified there is no risk of impact of this asteroid, since the space rock would be passing 16 times the Earth-Moon distance. However, its large size will make it easier to see it with optical help.
The Arecibo Observatory will be studying asteroid 52768 between April 8 and 24, 2020, as space rock travels at a speed of 19,461 miles per hour (31,320 km / h), that is, 8.7 km per second.
This is considered a “Potentially Dangerous Asteroid,” but only because it occasionally approaches the Earth-Moon distance less than 20 times, and because of its large size. Even so, there is no risk since its orbit has been calculated for at least the next 200 years, and its trajectory does not represent any danger.
Asteroid 52768 belongs to a class or type of space rocks called “Love” and it is anticipated that after April 2020, it would be returning to the vicinity of our planet on April 16, 2079, when it will pass 4.6 times the Earth-distance Moon.
The radar images that will be obtained from Arecibo will allow us to better understand the shape and size of this space rock.
Of all the approaches of large “Near-Earth Objects” that occur less than 5 lunar distances, that of asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2) would be that of the largest known space rock in approaching Earth during the next two hundred years , highlighted the SAC.
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