The massive asteroid 1997 NC1 makes its closest approach to Earth in nearly 400 years on June 27 |
A massive near-Earth asteroid is set to make its closest approach to our planet in nearly four centuries. Object No. 152637, known as 1997 NC1, will pass near Earth on June 27 at a distance of about 2.57 million kilometers, equivalent to about 6.5 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. NASA has classified the asteroid as potentially dangerous, a name given to any large object whose orbit passes near Earth, although scientists stress that there is no risk of collision for at least the next hundred years. The asteroid was first discovered in 1997, and provides astronomers with a rare opportunity to study an object of this size from such close proximity, an opportunity that will not be repeated for decades.
What is asteroid 152637 (1997 NC1) and why is it approaching Earth?
Asteroid 152637 (1997 NC1) was first observed in July 1997 by NASA. Tracking near-Earth asteroids It is an automated sky scanning system that operates telescopes at Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii and Palomar Observatory in California. The asteroid belongs to the Aten group, a class of near-Earth objects whose orbits lie mostly within Earth’s path around the sun while still crossing it, making the asteroid sometimes close to Venus as well. Its orbit revolves around the Sun about every 0.8 years, and it oscillates as close as Venus outside Earth’s orbit. Because this path regularly intersects Earth’s orbit, astronomers have tracked 152637 for nearly three decades, refining its path with each pass to accurately predict how close it will come this year.
How close will the asteroid come to Earth on June 27?
At its closest approach, expected at 11:16 UTC on June 27, the asteroid will pass about 2.57 million kilometers from Earth, or about 0.0171 astronomical units. This equates to approximately 6.5 times the average distance between Earth and the Moon, which is comfortably safe but still close enough to be considered a rare event for an object of this size. Orbital reconstructions show that this is the closest asteroid to have reached Earth since at least the early 1600s, and current models suggest it will not come this close again until 2133. The asteroid is moving at approximately 8.87 kilometers per second compared to Earth, and will travel a vast distance in a matter of hours, giving observatories around the world a narrow but valuable window to collect data.
Why does NASA classify this asteroid as potentially dangerous?
The “potentially hazardous” label may seem alarming, but NASA applies it to a broad category of objects rather than to specify an imminent threat. according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion LaboratoryAny asteroid larger than about 140 meters and whose orbit reaches within 7.5 million kilometers of Earth’s path around the Sun automatically receives this classification. Asteroid 152637 easily reaches this threshold, with estimates of its diameter ranging from about 700 meters to 1.6 kilometers depending on how reflective its surface is supposed to be. NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies continuously monitors objects in this category, and current calculations show no realistic chance of 152,637 colliding with Earth during at least the next century.
How will NASA’s Goldstone radar study the asteroid’s size and shape?
Telescopes can only estimate an asteroid’s size indirectly, by measuring how much sunlight it reflects, which leaves a great deal of uncertainty because a large, dark object can appear just as bright as a smaller, lighter-colored object. To solve this problem, NASA plans to direct it Goldstone radar of the solar system At the asteroid as it approaches. Marina Brozovic, an astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, explained that radar observations can determine not only the exact location of the asteroid, but also its shape, rotation rate and surface composition, information that optical telescopes alone cannot provide. Because a close, well-observed pass like this is uncommon, the radar campaign offers scientists an unusually detailed look at a near-Earth object of this size.
How and when can you see the asteroid from Earth?
Sky watchers will have a brief opportunity to spot star 152637 near its closest point, where it is expected to reach an apparent brightness of about 10. This is very faint to the naked eye but is within range of a small backyard telescope or a pair of powerful binoculars under a dark sky. Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will have the best vantage point to track the asteroid as it passes. Similar close encounters with large near-Earth objects occur about once every decade, the most recent involving asteroid 1994 PC1 in January 2022. Until 152637 returns for a similar close pass in 2133, this month’s flyby remains one of the most accessible opportunities to observe an asteroid roughly a kilometer in size. By the time 152637 approaches that limit again, everyone alive today will be long gone, and any instruments greeting its return will be as inconceivable to us now as modern radar was to astronomers in the year 1600. This gap alone serves as a useful reminder of the timelines on which the solar system operates quietly, indifferent to the civilizations that pass beneath it.
