Near-Earth Asteroid 2022 GN1 very close encounter: a image – 5 Apr. 2022
On 6 Apr. 2022, the near-Earth asteroid 2022 GN1 will have a very close, but safe encounter with the Earth, coming as close as 126.000 km from its center. We captured a stunning image while it was still approaching.
The image above comes from a single, 120-second exposure, remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″ + Paramount ME + SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available at Virtual Telescope. The telescope tracked the fast apparent motion of the asteroid, this is why stars look like long trails while the asteroid is a sharp dot of light.
At the imaging time, asteroid 2022 GN1 was at about 439.000 km from the telescope and was quickly approaching.
This 7.2 -16 meters large asteroid (source: Nasa/JPL) was discovered by the Mount Lemmon survey on 4 Apr. 2022 and announced the same day. Of course, there are no risks at all for our planet.
We scheduled a live feed showing asteroid 2022 GN1 in real time while at its minimum distance!
Support The Virtual Telescope Project!
Support us! Please, donate and receive an EXCLUSIVE image of COMET C/2020 F3 Neowise above the monumets of Rome and much more, specifically made for supporters like you!
(you can adjust the amount later)