Asteroid 2015 RN35 will be just under two lunar distances on Wednesday. Despite its large enough size, the European Space Agency said it poses no danger and should be visible in some areas until about Dec. 19.
Published Dec. 15, 2022 2:59 PM EST | Updated Dec. 15, 2022 2:59 PM EST
An asteroid up to 460 feet across is making a close flyby of Earth on Wednesday. Its large size, however, does not pose any danger, just a challenge for astronomers of any level hopeful to spot it this week.
The European Space Agency (ESA) referred to asteroid 2015 RN35 as their “Christmas asteroid,” which will be passing by Earth at a distance of 426,000 miles. The moon, in contrast, orbits at a distance of 238,900 miles away, making 2015 RN35’s orbit a close but safe one according to experts.
Telescopes 30 cm and larger should be able to detect it, the ESA said on its website, and amateur to professional astronomers are invited to join the #ESAChristmasAsteroid challenge, sharing their observations with the hashtag on social media.
It is expected for observers in the Southern Hemisphere to have the best view during the close approach on Wednesday, the ESA said in a tweet. The Northern Hemisphere will have an extended window for spotting until about Dec. 19.
The asteroid will be traveling at a speed of 3.67 miles per second, or about 13,220 miles per hour, according to data from NASA’s Near-Earth Observatory. This space rock represents one of the 30,000 near-Earth objects (NEOs) astronomers are aware of, which is the classification for the asteroids that veer toward the Earth’s orbit.
NASA’s data states this specific asteroid, discovered on Sept. 9, 2015, orbits the sun once every 1.8 years. Yet the solar system contains about 1.1 million asteroids, and most of them occupy the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Estimates indicate the “Christmas asteroid” is roughly the size of a baseball field, with a diameter ranging from 206 to 460 feet, but Newsweek reported that despite its proximity, the chances of 2015 RN35 hitting Earth are very slim.
“Asteroids are ‘bits of a planet that didn’t happen,’ that orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt. However, as they are relatively small, asteroids can be disturbed quite easily, so they can develop orbits that cross those of planets,” explained Jay Tate, the director of the U.K.’s Spaceguard Center observatory, via Newsweek.
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