As compared to various other planets, 2010 WC9 is not a big one yet it is likely larger compared to the Chelyabinsk meteor, which was originally approximated to be 65 feet long. As per the expert, this asteroid dubbed 2010 WC9 would tend to brush against our planet this week, most probably on Tuesday. Orbit calculations show that the May 15 pass is Earth's closest encounter for an asteroid this size in nearly 300 years. Astronomers did not have enough information about 2010 WC9's orbit to keep track of it until it reappeared this month.
The asteroid almost as big as a football field was first discovered in 2010 by a group of astronomers working on the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. The football field-sized asteroid will fly closest to our planet on May 15, at 6:05 p.m. EDT, at about 126,419 miles from Earth, as per EarthSky.
Although 2010 WC9 is hurtling towards us at an incredible speed of 28,655 miles per hour (46,116 km/h), it's unlikely that the asteroid will change its trajectory.More news: Iraq election thrown open as outsider alliances appear strong
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The Planet 2010 WC9 will certainly not be intense adequate to be noticeable to the human eye as it flies past Earth, however it will certainly be gotten by amateur telescopes that are directed at the best instructions at the correct time.
"If you want to watch an asteroid from the couch, you can do this too: we plan to broadcast from the telescope on the night of May 14 (closest to the day before approaching) as long as the weather allows!"
Bottom line: Asteroid 2010 WC9 will pass at about half the moon's distance on May 15, 2018.
"The broadcast will last less than 25 minutes, since the asteroid will cross our field of view during this time period. This will be one of the closest approaches by a "large" (~100m) asteroid ever observed", the Northolt Branch Observatories revealed.
"Then again on May 10, after it was identified as asteroid 2010 WC9, which had been a lost asteroid for eight years".