NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft touches asteroid’s surface
After Tuesday’s historic contact with the asteroid Bennu, NASA has never before released images of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft kicking up rocks and debris on the space rock. (Credit: NASA via Storyful)
LOS ANGELES – The largest asteroid to pass through our planet in 2021 will be at its nearest on Sunday, giving astronomers a rare chance to see the giant rock that formed at the beginning of our solar system.
According to a statement by NASA, the nearby Earth asteroid, named 2001 FO32, will make its closest approach at a distance of about 1.25 million miles – equivalent to 5 1/4 times the distance of the Earth’s moon.
FO32, discovered in 2001, will orbit about 77,000 km / h, which is faster than the speed at which most asteroids reach Earth, NASA said.
“The reason for the asteroid’s extremely fast close approach is its highly inclined and elongated (or eccentric) orbit around the sun, an orbit tilted 39 degrees to the Earth’s orbital plane. This orbit takes the asteroid closer to the sun than “Mercury and twice as far from the sun as Mars,” NASA wrote. “While 2001 FO32 undertakes its inner solar system, the asteroid picks up speed like a skateboarder rolling off a half-pipe, and then decelerates after re-entering. the deep space is thrown out and swings back to the sun. “
Based on recent optical measurements, it is estimated that FO32 is approximately 1,300 to 2,230 feet wide, which according to NASA is at the smaller end of the scale. It will still be the largest asteroid to pass near our planet in 2021.
Fortunately, NASA has noted that there is no danger of a collision with our planet now or for centuries to come.
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“We know the 2001 FO32 orbit around the sun very accurately, as it was discovered 20 years ago and has been followed ever since,” said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies, run by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “There is no chance that the asteroid will come closer to Earth than 1.25 million miles.”
Yet the distance from the asteroid is close in astronomical terms, which is why FO32 2001 was described as a ‘potentially dangerous asteroid’.
But the passing of Sunday will be a valuable scientific opportunity for astronomers.
“The meeting on March 21 will give astronomers the opportunity to gain a more precise understanding of the size and albedo of the asteroid (ie how bright, or reflective its surface is), and a rough idea of its composition, “NASA wrote.
In addition, astronomers will study the spectrum of light reflected from the surface to measure the chemical “fingerprints” of the minerals on the surface of the asteroid.
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“We’re going to use the IRTF to show the infrared spectrum its chemical composition,” said Vishnu Reddy, an associate professor at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. “Once we know that, we can make comparisons with meteorites on Earth to find out what minerals 2001 FO32 contains.”
Despite the near-pass of the asteroid through the Earth, FO32 will only be so close again until 2052, when it will pass about 1.75 million miles.
“Little is known about this object at present, so the very close encounter provides an excellent opportunity to learn a lot about this asteroid,” said Lance Benner, chief scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.