The 2001 asteroid FO32 will soon pass Earth, writes IFLScience. The rather large object, 440-680 meters wide, will race astronomically close on March 21, about 2 million kilometers from our planet.
Since 2001 FO32 has not been so close before, valuable information about the celestial body can be gathered as we pass by now. Thanks to the data, experts can get a more accurate picture of the shape, size and material of the asteroid.
Paul Chodas, a fellow at NASA ‘s Near – Earth Object Center, said that the 2001 FO32 orbit has been widely studied since its discovery 20 years ago, making it very well known. The researcher believes there is no chance of the asteroid getting closer than 2 million kilometers.
The object is too faint to be visible to the naked eye, but can already be seen with a smaller telescope. The next FO32 in 2001 will be similarly close in 2052.
Every month, many small and large objects pass by our planet. Researchers say there are still plenty of asteroids near Earth waiting to be discovered, but so far no asteroids have been found to pose a threat to us.
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