An asteroid, skyscraper-sized, «potentially hazardous», is set to come close to Earth this week — and you can see it pass, either using a backyard telescope or via a free online live broadcast.
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The asteroid, which was discovered earlier this year, was initially predicted to have a slim chance of hitting our planet in 2089 — temporarily earning it a spot at the top of the European Space Agency's (ESA) impact risk list. However, after new observations, it is no longer considered an immediate threat.
The space rock, named 2025 FA22, is between 130 and 290 meters, making it large enough to wipe out a major city if it were to collide with Earth. It will reach its closest approach in the early hours of Thursday (September 18), coming within 835,000 kilometers of our planet and traveling at a speed of about 38,600 kilometers per hour.
Asteroid 2025 FA22 was originally discovered in March by the Pan-STARRS 2 in Hawaii. The asteroid quickly made headlines when it was revealed that it has a 0.01% chance of hitting Earth when it returns for another close flyby on September 23, 2089.
Despite the low probability of collision, space agencies took the threat of 2025 FA22 seriously, and the asteroid briefly topped the Danger List , which tracks all near-Earth objects predicted to have a non-zero chance of colliding with our planet.
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The now completely safe flyby of 2025 FA22 will be shared in a free live stream from the Virtual Telescope Project, which will be monitoring the object using a telescope in Manciano, Italy. The live stream will begin at approximately 11:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 17.
During its close approach, the asteroid could reach an apparent magnitude of 13, which would make it bright enough to spot with a decent backyard telescope or a pair of stargazing binoculars, according to IFLScience. You can find where it is in the night sky using TheSkyLive.com.
Researchers will closely monitor the asteroid from observatories around the world, including NASA's Goldstone radar telescope in Barstow, California, which has the capability to reveal more about the actual size and shape of the space rock.
In reality, 2025 FA22 will not get very close to us by 2089. The latest calculations from NASA's Aeronautics Laboratory indicate that it will approach only at a distance of 6 million kilometers from Earth, more than seven times farther than its current passage.
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However, the asteroid will return for an extremely close approach in 2173, when it will reach a minimum distance of about 320,000 kilometers, bringing it closer to us than the Moon.
