Asteroid news: Watch a 990m 'potentially hazardous' asteroid miss Earth today
AN ASTEROID big enough to be seen from Earth will come barreling past our planet later today, as astronomer has told Express.co.uk. Find out how to watch the asteroid's close flyby.
Asteroid 1998 HL1 spotted heading towards Earth
The colossal asteroid, dubbed Asteroid 1998 HL1, will swing past Earth this evening (Friday, October 25). Astronomer Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy believes amateur astronomers will be able to see the space rock from home. The US space agency NASA estimates HL1 measures in the range of 1,443ft to 3,248ft (440m to 990m) across.
An asteroid on this scale is big enough to kill millions and cause “global” destruction upon impact.
As a result of its size and close approach, Dr Masi said the asteroid is considered “potentially hazardous”.
Today, the asteroid is expected to make its closest approach to Earth around 6.21pm BST (5.21pm UTC).
Dr Masi will track the asteroid’s movement and broadcast it live over the internet.
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How to watch the Asteroid 1998 HL1 fly past Earth on Friday
You can watch the asteroid’s flyby in the embedded video above, courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project.
The Virtual Telescope will track the asteroid live online.
The YouTube live stream will kick off at 6pm BST (5pm UTC).
Mr Masi said: “The potentially hazardous asteroid (162082) 1998 HL has an estimated diameter in the range 440 to 990 meters: this will make it quite bright around the time of the fly-by.
“The Virtual Telescope Project will show it live, thanks to its advanced technologies, bringing it to you via the Internet.
Our online observing session will cover the moment of its minimum distance from us
“This way, you can join the journey from the comfort of your home.
“Our online observing session will cover the moment of its minimum distance from us.”
Simply tune-in to Express.co.uk today to watch the above live stream straight from Rome, Italy.
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What do we know about the Asteroid 1998 HL1?
The asteroid was first spotted in the solar system by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project (LINEAR) in New Mexico, US.
NASA has since dubbed the space rock a Near-Earth Object or NEO asteroid.
NEOs are all comets and asteroids that orbit the Sun from a close distance to Earth.
Because of the asteroid’s close approach and monstrous size, astronomers have dubbed it “potentially hazardous”.
NASA said: “Potentially hazardous asteroids are about 150m – almost 500ft – or larger, roughly twice as big as the Statue of Liberty is tall.
“They approach Earth's orbit to within 7.5 million kilometres – about 4.6 million miles.
“By comparison, when Mars and Earth are at their closest, they are about 53 million kilometres – about 33 million miles – apart.”
Asteroid HL1 measures somewhere between 1,443ft to 3,248ft (440m to 990m) in diameter.
The asteroid is flying through space at speeds of around 11.21km per second or 25,076mph (40,356kph).
Thankfully, the asteroid will not come close enough for NASA to sound the alarm bells just yet.
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At its closest, HL1 will approach Earth from approximately 0.04155 astronomical units.
A single astronomical unit describes the distance from our home planet to the Sun – 93 million miles (149.6 million km).
Asteroid HL1 will slash this distance down to just 3.86 million miles (6.2 million km)on Friday.
NASA said: “As they orbit the Sun, Near-Earth Objects can occasionally approach close to Earth.
“Note that a ‘close’ passage astronomically can be very far away in human terms: millions or even tens of millions of kilometres.”