A large meteorite, dubbed Great Pumpkin and the size of four football fields, will approach tomorrow during the feast of Halloween to Earth, where scientists from around the world prepare to witness a phenomenon unusual, that only happens every 10 years.
“It may seem a point of light. The human eye can not see and had better use a small telescope to view this celestial body so bright,” said Paul Chodas, director of the Center Near Earth Object Lab NASA JPL in Pasadena, California.
At 17:01 GMT today (10 am, Mexico time), the space rock technically called 2015 TB145 , will approach 490,000 kilometers from Earth, meaning that the meteorite will be at a slightly greater distance separating the Moon from our planet, according to the US Space Agency (NASA, for its acronym in English).
Great Pumpkin has a diameter of about 400 meters and will scale astronomical -a near-Earth orbit approximately 126 000 kilometers per hour without posing a threat to the planet, he said the expert from NASA.
“It’s a rare event. Asteroids of this size, so big, do not approach the Earth very often. I would say that happens every 10 years or so once, “said the astronomer.
According to the catalog of the NASA Near-Earth objects, Great Pumpkin will be the that closer cross from our planet until August 2027, when it is expected that the rock 1999 AN10 approaching almost 384 000 400 kilometers, the same distance that separates our planet from the moon.
According to Chodas, the passage of the asteroid Great Pumpkin near the Earth is more than a threat, an opportunity to enjoy Halloween with the children and get them interested in this type of bodies celestial and astronomy.
IMAGE EXPERIMENT
The NASA scientists began yesterday to use antennas up to 34 meters long, complex Goldstone , California, to launch against the asteroid radio waves that bounce off the surface and be collected by two centers in West Virginia and Puerto Rico.
These centers are responsible for collecting the waves and molded images Rock, NASA expects to process with a resolution of up to two meters per pixel.
“This is not the first time we used radar to see the image of an asteroid. But, possibly, this will be one of the times you’ll have a better picture because rarely an asteroid has passed so close to Earth. Tomorrow we will see strong and clear, “Chodas said.
Knowing the structure, surface, composition and evolution of Great Pumpkin will allow scientists to learn more about how they work these rocks stellar and how they can be destroyed.
“It’s good to know more about these bodies should you ever have to divert an asteroid on Earth. This poses no danger, but may one day need to deflect an asteroid and it is important to know as much as we can on the physical characteristics of these bodies, “defended Chodas.
The celestial body was discovered on October 10 through a telescope in Hawaii and since then there have been calculations to pinpoint its orbit.
The NASA scientists have warned that the gravitational influence of the asteroid will have no detectable effect on Earth, as tides or movements of tectonic plates.
The best place to track Great Pumpkin will be Europe and Asia because when celestial rock approach in these continents it’ll be dark and the bright meteor fast race can best be seen, said the astronomer.
NASA detects and tracks usually asteroids and comets passing close by using ground and space telescopes Observation program Near-Earth , which in English is known as Spaceguard (Space Guard) to detect if anyone is potentially dangerous for the planet.
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