Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2: new image – 8 Apr. 2020
As it safely approaches us, we share a new images of the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2 from last night, waiting to show it live at the end of the month.
The image above comes from the average of three, 180-seconds exposures, remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″+Paramount ME+SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available at Virtual Telescope. The asteroid is in the center of the image, visible a sharp dot of light. The telescope tracked the apparent motion of 1998 OR2.
When we imaged it, asteroid 1998 OR2 was at about 16.1 millions of km from us. This 1.8 – 4.1 km large asteroid will come as close as 6.3 millions of km from us next 29 Apr., – more than 16 times the average lunar distance: it will NOT hit us! – becoming bright enough to be seen with modest optical equipments. We will show it live, online.
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