Believed to have disappeared in some cosmic mishap of change in trajectory, asteroid 2019 WC9 has reappeared in foreboding fashion, writes the UK’s Express.
Said to be bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, WC9 was first spotted in 2010 by astronomers in Australia. As quickly as it was located, it disappeared.
On May 15, however, the asteroid hurtled perilously close to Earth, skimming by at just 126,000 miles from our planet, the closest it will be to earth for the next 300 years.
The Express writes that anything “that comes closer than 4,650,000 miles of Earth is classified by NASA as a ‘near-Earth object’ (NEO).” NASA said the event is the closest 2010 WC9 will be to Earth within the next 300 years.
Located again this month, the asteroid was visible last night as it passed between the Earth and moon around 11:05 pm.
If the asteroid had struck our planet it would not have triggered a mass extinction event, but would have been powerful enough to destroy a large city or small country. Chelyabinsk, Russia was startled by the descent and explosion of a 50 foot meteor in 2013 that lit up the sky, shattered windows, cracked walls and sent people to the hospital with related injuries.
For those who cannot step outside to see the asteroid, the Northolt Branch Observatories in London will be live streaming the event on a social media page.
Prior to the fly-by, Guy Wells, of the observatory, was optimistic about the event saying: “We are planning to broadcast this asteroid live to our Facebook page if the weather forecast remains positive.
“The broadcast will be less than 25 minutes in duration, as the asteroid will cross our field of view within that period of time.
“The asteroid will be moving quite rapidly (30 arc seconds per minute).
“Our display will update every five seconds. We are of course collecting astrometric data whilst this is happening, but the motion of the asteroid will be apparent every five seconds.”
Head over to the Northolt Branch Observatories Facebook page for more information.
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