The large asteroid Apophis will pass safely around the Earth tonight (March 5) and at least two astronomical broadcasting services plan to show the fields in live webcasts.
While personal telescopes with a diameter of less than 12 inches he will strain to see Apophis On Friday, both the Slooh online observatory and the virtual telescope project are planning separate webcasts for the event. The broadcasts will not only discuss the overflight in 2021, but will also arouse interest in a much closer passage in 2029, when Apophis will travel 31,000 kilometers from Earth and be closer than some high altitude satellites.
During the much less dramatic flight tonight, Apophis will remain about 44 times farther from the moon. At its nearest point, the asteroid will be more than 1
The near – Earth asteroid is about 300 meters in size and was discovered in 2004; while initial early estimates indicate that it is unlikely to crash on Earth in 2029, which is ruled out after scientists improve their orbit NASA said on your website.
Connected: Scientists are preparing for their last good look at the asteroid Apophis before 2029
Slooh will broadcast live posts on Apophis on its membership website Slooh.com starting on Friday at 20:00 EST (Saturday at 0100 GMT). The show will feature images of Apophis from Slooh’s remote-controlled observatories in Chile and the Canary Islands. A free 7-day trial is available here.
Members can also track the asteroid themselves through telescopes in the Canary Islands and Chile hours before the broadcast, Slooh chief astronomer Paul Cox told Space.com.
“We will be tracking Apophis all night,” Cox said in an email. “I will be hosting a live star party, and our guests are Bob Berman and Dr. Mike Shaw. We will discuss Apophis, the risks posed by nearby Earth objects to Earth, our historical coverage of Apophis, and tracing Slooh’s legacy. asteroids have been moving since 2008. “
Slooh also plans to discuss an upcoming membership course to track near-Earth objects and present opinions to the International Astronomical Union. Center for small planetswhich is responsible for identifying small objects in the solar system, Cox said.
The show from the virtual telescope project, with the ability to observe robotic telescopes located near Rome, will begin on Friday at 7pm EST (Saturday, March 6, 0:00 GMT) on this website.
“By far the most famous potentially dangerous asteroid, 99942 Apophis, will have a relatively close approach to Earth,” founder Gianluca Massi said in a statement on the show’s website. “While we’re waiting for our 2029 record, we’ll share this upcoming opportunity with you, so join us and watch it live from the comfort of your own home.”
Flying on Friday will see that Apophis will escape close to 0.11 astronomical units to the Earth, or approximately 44 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. While Apophis is not an immediate threat to Earth, NASA and its Planetary Defense Coordination Service explore the sky regularly using a network of partner telescopes. NASA has a mandate from the US Congress to look for potentially dangerous asteroids, and so far the agency and its partners have not found anything that directly worries the inhabitants of the Earth.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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