How is it going to be?

According to calculations, the speed of asteroid 2011 UL21 will be 93,000 kilometers per hour. Even though it has the status of “potentially dangerous”, there is still no need to worry. Scientists assigned this buzzard to all objects located at a certain distance from Earth, regardless of whether a possible collision with the planet was visible in the simulation. Nothing similar will definitely happen in this case.

The asteroid is periodic, meaning it approaches Earth regularly at specific time intervals. It orbits our star every three years and its closest distance to the star is 1.3 astronomical units (one astronomical unit is equal to the average distance from the Earth to the Sun).

According to past observations, the diameter of the space rock is between 1.7 and 3.9 kilometers; This means it is larger than 99% of known near-Earth asteroids, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

However, although any possible impacts from 2011 UL21 are less severe than these historic impacts, the asteroid could still cause continent-wide damage and launch enough debris into the atmosphere to cause significant climate change; That’s why it’s called a “planet killer.” .”

When to wait

On June 27, asteroid 2011 UL21 will fly past Earth at a distance of approximately 6.6 million kilometers; This one is closer than last time. At such a distance, NASA considers this a potentially dangerous object. However, it is approximately 17 times farther from our planet than the Moon.

Despite Space rock poses no threat to Earth It is interesting – neither now nor in the future – because it is probably one of the 10 largest asteroids that have passed within 7.5 million kilometers of our planet since 1900.

How to watch

You will be able to follow this approach until 2011 UL21. Free live broadcast from VTPIt will show the view of the asteroid from the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Ceccano, Italy. The broadcast will start at 23.00. Now you can set a reminder to receive notifications at the right time.

Direct rapprochement will occur 15 minutes after start.

Asteroid broadcast: video

You will also be able to spot an asteroid in the night sky with a good telescope. HE It will be brightest on June 28 and 29and will be visible from the Northern Hemisphere if you know where to look. According to VTP he is doing his best It will have a brightness similar to Proxima Centauri — The closest known star to the Sun.

Asteroid 2011 UL21 in the diagram / Photo: Gianluca Masi

2011 UL21 won’t come this close to Earth until 2089, when the space rock will approach our planet 2.7 million kilometers (two and a half times farther than its current approach), according to simulations.

To exist The chance of any known planet-destroying asteroid hitting Earth is zero for at least the next 1,000 years. But there will be several close encounters with smaller asteroids over the next few years. For example, the asteroid Apophis, which is large enough to destroy an entire city, will fly closer to Earth than some moons in 2029.