An asteroid of 2.7 km in diameter pass close to Earth

An asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier will pass close to Earth on Tuesday and will be the biggest to graze our planet since 1976, said Thursday NASA on its website, while stressing that there is no danger of collision. - Nasa afp.com

It is not yet Deep Impact, but it not going to go away. An asteroid of 2.7 km in diameter will approach the Earth Friday without creating risk. The object will cross in fact 5.8 million kilometers from Earth, or about 15 times the Earth-Moon distance, said NASA. Although this asteroid, dubbed “QE2 in 1998,” is of no interest to scientists focusing on objects potentially threatening the Earth, it will be scrutinized by astronomers who attempt to unlock the secrets of these celestial visitors.

“A scientific opportunity to study in detail”

“The asteroid” 1998 QE2 “is a target of great interest to the Goldstone radio telescope in California and the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico. We hope to obtain high-resolution images that can reveal a lot of features on its surface, “says astronomer Lance Benner, Senior Scientist for Goldstone radar at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA in Pasadena (California).

The images of this telescope used to see clearly a portion of a width of 3.75 m at a distance of nearly six million kilometers. “Every time an asteroid approach as close to Earth, it provides an important scientific opportunity to study in detail to understand its size, shape, rotation and the characteristics of its surface, and all we can shed light on its origins, “he continues.

“We will also use new measures to reassess its distance from the Earth and its speed, which will enhance our calculations of its orbit and trajectory far into the future,” said the astronomer. The asteroid will approach closer to the Earth on May 31 at 8:59 p.m. GMT, says NASA. This will be his closest flyby for at least two centuries.

An asteroid has already come close to Earth in February

“1998 QE2″ was discovered Aug. 19, 1998 by astronomers of the research program near Earth asteroids at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) near Socorro, New Mexico. On 15 February, an asteroid 45 meters in diameter had grazed the Earth without making a mess, passing 27,000 km less than the orbit of some satellites.

The same day a meteorite had disintegrated in the atmosphere over Russia, injuring a thousand people. The tracking of asteroids is a high priority for NASA. The space agency has already found and indexed more than 98% of the largest –d’un kilometer in diameter and more– in the vicinity of the Earth asteroid. Astronomers have detected and cataloged 9,500 celestial objects of all sizes crossing near Earth, is probably one tenth of the total.