Asteroid 2012 RK15 close encounter (24 Sept. 2012)
Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 RK15
On 24 Sept. 2012 at 16:55 Universal Time, the near-Earth Asteroid 2012 RK15 will approach our planet, reaching a minimum distance of 8.2 lunar distances, that is 3.1 millions of km. It is definitely a safe distane, so no risks for our planet.
2012 RK15 was discovered on 14 Sept. 2012 from the Catalina Sky Survey and the Virtual Telescope provided at that time some precious follow-up, to help calculating its orbit. Its diameter is estimate to be around 90 meters.
Around the time of the close approach, the asteorid will be traveling across the stars of Scorpis, so it will visible mainly for the southern hemisphere. But it will be faint, around mag 18, and moving fast, so an “hard” target.
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