A large asteroid will pass Earth at more than 11 times the moon’s distance on November 29, 2020 and will approach our planet more closely in later flybys.
2000 WO107 is an asteroid, classified as near-Earth object and potentially hazardous asteroid of the Aten group.
It was discovered on 29 November 2000, by astronomers of the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research at the Lincoln Laboratory’s Experimental Test Site near Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States.
The size of the asteroid is estimated to be 1,640 feet, that’s 500 meters, which is half a kilometer or 1/3 mile.
2000 WO107 is a fast-moving space rock, traveling through space at the amazing speed of 56,080 miles per hour or 25.07 km per second. By contrast, 2020 SW swept past Earth at only 17,336 miles per hour
Astronomers will study 2000 WO107 by bouncing radar signals from its surface and afterwards by analyzing the signals that are reflected.
These observations are planned at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California, scheduled for November 27 to December 1, 2020.
Radar observations of space rocks result in images that show us the asteroid’s shape.
Asteroid 2000 WO107 should reach a visual magnitude of 12 to 13.5.
That means observers using a 6-inch or 8-inch telescopes, or larger, might be able to see the space rock, which will look from Earth like a slowly moving star.
Source: Wikipedia and Earth-Sky
Rod is a blogger, writer, filmmaker, photographer, daydreamer who likes to cook. Rod produces and directs the web series, CUPIC: Diary of an Investigator. He is also the editor, producer and administrator of STM Daily News, a part of the TNC Network.
