'Potentially hazardous' asteroid spotted approaching Earth
The celestial body will approach within 4,5 million kilometers of our planet. The encounter will be "relatively close and obviously safe."
Sputnik - The planetoid, which has a diameter of 1,3 kilometers, will approach Earth on March 4th, coming within 4,5 million kilometers of our planet.
The Virtual Telescope Project photographed on Sunday (30) the asteroid (138971) 2001 CB21, a celestial body cataloged as "potentially hazardous" that will pass close to Earth on March 4, reported the Virtual Telescope.
The celestial body will approach within 4,5 million kilometers of our planet, or approximately three times the average lunar distance, making it a "relatively close and obviously safe" encounter for Earth.
Furthermore, it is detailed that the photo was taken remotely with the Elena robotic unit (PlaneWave 17"+Paramount ME+SBIG STL-6303E) when the planetoid was approximately 35 million kilometers from our planet and slowly approaching us.
Discovered on February 2, 2001 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program, which systematically locates and tracks near-Earth asteroids, (138971) 2001 CB21 has a diameter of 1,3 kilometers.
On January 18, asteroid (7482) 1994 PC1, which has a diameter exceeding 1.000 meters, approached within 1,98 million kilometers of Earth, the closest approach to our planet in the next two centuries.
A team of astronomers discovered on Tuesday (1st) the planetoid 2020 XL5, which belongs to the so-called Trojan asteroids, that follows the orbit of the Earth.
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