Astronomers discovered asteroid 2010 WC9 on Nov. 30, 2010. However, it soon faded from view and was lost. But now it’s back, and it’s going to whiz past Earth between Monday and Tuesday.
Astronomers estimate the asteroid to be 71 metres in diameter (though it could be larger). It will pass about half the distance between Earth and the moon — about 200,000 kilometres — travelling around 12.8 kilometres a second.
Between May 14 and 15, asteroid 2010 WC9 will pass between the orbit of Earth and the moon. (NASA/JPL)
The asteroid was discovered with the Catalina Sky Survey, a NASA-funded program with three telescopes searching for near-Earth objects. Just 10 days later, it had almost faded from view. But within that time, astronomers were able to determine that it would make a close flyby of Earth around May 14, 2018.
But there’s no need to panic. While the asteroid is coming fairly close to Earth on cosmological terms, it’s in no danger of colliding with us. Using the data acquired so far, scientists have calculated 2010 WC9’s orbit to 2158 and this is the closest it will come to Earth with that timeframe.
If you’d like to see it for yourself, the Northolt Branch Observatories in London, England, will be carrying it live on their Facebook page. You can also watch it by visiting the Slooh website tonight at 8 p.m. ET.
We continue tracking 2010 WC9 leading up to it’s close approach tomorrow at a distance of 203,000 km<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/SpotTheAsteroid?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#SpotTheAsteroid</a><a href=”https://twitter.com/AsteroidDay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AsteroidDay</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/NEOShieldTeam?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NEOShieldTeam</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/CloseApproaches?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@CloseApproaches</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/AsteroidTracker?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AsteroidTracker</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/AstronomyFM?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AstronomyFM</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/AstronomyNow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AstronomyNow</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/BBCStargazing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@BBCStargazing</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/exploreplanets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@exploreplanets</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/neiltyson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@neiltyson</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/ProfBrianCox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ProfBrianCox</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/earthskyscience?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@earthskyscience</a> <a href=”https://t.co/FKhzi25C9e”>pic.twitter.com/FKhzi25C9e</a>
—@NBObservatories
There are several projects searching for potentially hazardous asteroids, though, lucky for us, so far none have been confirmed to be a danger to Earth.
NASA estimates that about 90 per ent of all asteroids one-kilometre in diameter and larger, have been found.
Astronomers hope to further observe asteroid 2010 WC9 in order to better refine its orbit.