NASA received images of an asteroid flying close to Earth :: NASANET

On February 2, a large asteroid passed safely by the Earth at a distance of approximately 2.9 million kilometers, which is 7 and a half times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. There was no risk that the asteroid, named 2008 OS7, would collide with our planet, but scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California used a powerful radio antenna to better determine the size, rotation, shape and surface features of this nearby asteroid. Earthly object. (NEO). Prior to this approach, asteroid 2008 OS7 was too far from Earth for planetary radar systems to image it.

The asteroid was discovered on July 30, 2008, during routine OCT search operations by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey based at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Following its discovery, observations of the amount of light reflected from the asteroid’s surface showed that it was approximately 200 to 500 meters wide and rotated relatively slowly, making one rotation every 29.5 hours.

The rotation period of 2008 OS7 was determined by Petr Pravec of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Ondřejov, Czech Republic, who studied the asteroid’s light curve (or how the brightness of an object changes over time). As the asteroid rotates, changes in its shape change the brightness of the reflected light that astronomers see, and these changes are recorded to understand the asteroid’s rotation period.

During the close approach on February 2, JPL’s radar team used the powerful 70-meter Goldstone Solar System radar dish at the Deep Space Network facility near Barstow, California, to image the asteroid. Scientists have discovered that its surface consists of rounded and more angular areas with a slight concavity. They also discovered that the asteroid is smaller than previously thought (between 150 and 200 meters wide) and confirmed its unusually slow rotation.

Goldstone’s radar observations also provided key measurements of the asteroid’s distance from Earth as it passed. These measurements could help scientists at NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) refine their calculations of the asteroid’s orbital path around the Sun. orbit of Mars at its farthest point.

CNEOS, operated by JPL, calculates each known NEO orbit to provide an estimate of the potential impact risk. Due to its close orbit to Earth and size, 2008 OS7 is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid, but the February 2 approach will be the closest to our planet in 200 years.

While NASA reports near-Earth objects of all sizes, Congress has directed the agency to detect and track objects 140 meters or larger that could cause significant damage to Earth if they collided with our planet.