The skyscraper-sized “potentially dangerous” asteroid is set to get close to Earth this week. You can zoom in the past yourself using a backyard telescope or via a free online live stream.
The asteroid discovered earlier this year was predicted to have a slight chance of hitting our planet in 2089. However, following new observations, it is no longer considered an imminent threat.
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The 2025 FA22 was first discovered in March by the Pan-Starrs 2 telescope in Hawaii. Returning to another Close By on September 23, 2089, the asteroid quickly made a headline when it became clear that there was a 0.01% chance of hitting Earth.
Despite the low probability of collisions, the space agency took the threat of the 2025 FA22 seriously, and the asteroid temporarily hit the top spot on the ESA risk list.
“However, high-priority follow-up observations allowed astronomers to quickly improve the asteroid’s trajectory and eliminate the risk of impact,” according to a new ESA statement. Asteroid 2025 FA22 was removed from the ESA risk list entirely in May.
Related: NASA’s Most Wanted: Five Most Dangerous Asteroids to Earth
The 2025 FA22’s fully secure flyby will be shared in a free live stream by a virtual telescopic project that tracks objects using the Italian Manciano telescope. The live stream will begin on Wednesday (September 17th) around 11:00pm EDT.
According to IflScience, the asteroid can reach 13 apparent sizes. You can find where you are in the night sky using Theskylive.com.
Researchers have paid attention to asteroids from observatory around the world, including NASA’s Goldstone Radar Telescope in Burstow, California.
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The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAND) is also adopting the 2025 FA22 flyby as an opportunity to practice emergency protocols by running a practice scenario in 2089 under the pretense that asteroids still affect us. future.
“While FA22 in 2025 poses no danger, it is important to practice the ability to measure these properties, as they affect how asteroids respond to attempts to deflect them from their collision course with Earth,” an ESA representative wrote about the campaign.
The reality is that FA22 in 2025 will not come close to us in 2089. Latest calculations from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory suggest that it will only come within 3.7 million miles (6 million km) of the Earth, more than seven times the current flyby.
However, when the asteroid reaches a minimum distance of about 200,000 miles (320,000 km) in 2173, it returns due to a superclose approach and is closer than the moon.
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