The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Twitter that asteroid 1994 PC 1, a phenomenon that has been studied by scientists for the past decade, is expected to pass in front of Earth this Tuesday, January 18. .
The context: The stony (rocky) asteroid 1994 PC1 was classified by NASA as a potentially dangerous near-Earth object of the Apollo group. It was discovered on August 9, 1994, by astronomer Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in Coonabarabran, Australia.
- The asteroid is 1 km in diameter. This feature makes it an object larger than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the largest building in the world.
- NASA said that this Tuesday at 4:15 pm (ET), the rock will make a close appearance, at a distance of regarding 1.2 million miles from the planet.
- The asteroid will be visible from Earth using a telescope, but it can also be seen through smartphones on NASA’s Eyes on Asteroid portal.
What do they say? “The near-Earth #asteroid 1994 PC1 (~1 km wide) is well known and has been studied for decades by our #PlanetaryDefense experts. Rest assured that 1994 PC1 will safely pass our planet by 1.2 million miles next Tuesday, January 18,” the space agency tweeted.
- The space agency reported that the asteroid will pass in front of the earth and will not impact the planet.
- The 1994 PC1 is supposed to pass in front of Earth at a speed of 47,344 miles per hour at a distance of 1.2 million miles from Earth.
- NASA reported that this asteroid will be the closest to Earth in the next two centuries.
Where to see the asteroid? If you have a telescope you can use it to focus on the sky and see the object pass by. 1994 PC1 can be seen in medium telescopes from 15 to 20 centimeters in diameter for just over two weeks
If you don’t have this device you can connect through Virtual Telescope and watch the transmission they will make or follow their path through the nasa platform ready for it.