On September 9, 2018, the near-Earth asteroid 2018 RC will have a very close, but safe, encounter with us, coming about 136,000 miles (220,000 km) from the Earth’s surface, or about 50 percent of the lunar distance. The Virtual Telescope Project will show it to you live.
The near-Earth asteroid 2018 RC, discovered by the ATLAS survey (Hawaii) on September 3, 2018, and announced the next day by the Minor Planet Center, has an estimated diameter in the range of 100-230 feet (32-71 meters). Just before its flyby, it will be visible with small (10-cm large or larger) telescopes, as a 12th magnitude dot of light.
At that brightness, the asteroid will not be visible to the eye alone.
The Virtual Telescope Project will show you the asteroid live, so that you can join the journey from the comfort of your home. The live feed will start on September 8, 2018, at 22:00 UTC (6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; translate UTC to your time), when the asteroid will be close to its maximum brightness.
Bottom line: The Virtual Telescope Project is presenting an online viewing of newly discovered asteroid 2018 RC on September 8 at 22:00 UTC (6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time; translate UTC to your time). If you want to participate, click here.
Gianluca Masi is an Italian astrophysicist and founder of the Virtual Telescope project (part of Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory), consisting in several robotic telescopes, remotely available in real-time over the Internet. Through this system, real-time, online observing sessions are performed, sharing the universe with the world. More than 1 million individuals each year observe the sky through the Virtual Telescope. Gian started his interest in astronomy at childhood, later becoming a professional astronomer, earning a PhD in astronomy in 2006. At the same time, he devoted a lot of efforts to science communication. The asteroid (21795) is named “Masi” in his honor.