An asteroid measuring 9 soccer fields lengthy is zipping previous our planet in the present day. Here’s what it’s good to find out about this close to Earth object and why there’s nothing to fret about.

The asteroid, designated 1994 PC1, will make its closest strategy to Earth at 4:51 p.m. EST (1:51 p.m. PST), at which era it’ll come to inside 1.23 million miles (1.98 million kilometers) of our planet, according to NASA. That’s a protected distance, because it’s barely greater than 5 instances the common distance of Earth to the Moon.

The Rome-based Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 is internet hosting a livestream of the shut strategy, which is anticipated to start shortly after 2:00 p.m. EST (11:00 a.m. PST). You can catch the motion on the feed supplied beneath.

Gianluca Masi, the founding father of the challenge, stated alternatives to see vivid and comparatively shut asteroids like 1994 PC1 don’t occur fairly often. The object gained’t be seen to the unaided eye, however beginner astronomers utilizing small telescopes between 100 mm to 150 mm in diameter ought to be capable of spot it crossing the Cetus, Pisces, Andromeda, and Cassiopeia constellations, Masi informed me in an e-mail.

For this encounter, Masi can be utilizing the group’s essential robotic unit positioned in Ceccano, Italy, which is positioned 56 miles (90 km) south of Rome. The automated gadget will monitor the obvious movement of 1994 PC1 throughout the backdrop of stars, which ought to end in some “very nice images,” stated Masi. The skies above the positioning are anticipated to be clear, so “we are keeping our fingers crossed to have a great view and share the experience with the world,” he added. The asteroid is at the moment shifting at a fee of 31.5 miles per second (19.56 km/s).

1994 PC1 is deemed a doubtlessly hazardous asteroid and a close to Earth object (NEO), however the 0.6-mile-wide (1-kilometer-wide) house rock poses no tangible risk to Earth. A have a look at NASA’s NEO Earth Close Approaches table exhibits that 1994 PC1 gained’t come any nearer than this for a minimum of the subsequent 200 years. Interestingly, the asteroid did come a smidge nearer in 1933, when, unbeknownst to people, it brushed previous at a distance of 699,000 miles (1.12 million kilometers).

NASA is at the moment monitoring 28,000 NEOs, with a further 3,000 objects added to the record annually. The house company lately upgraded its impression monitoring system, known as Sentry-II, which is able to monitoring all recognized NEOs and calculating impression odds as little as a couple of probabilities in 10 million.

More: NASA’s Upgraded Impact Monitoring System Could Prevent an Asteroid Apocalypse.