An asteroid the size of a car just zipped by Earth in close flyby

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An asteroid the size of a car just zipped by Earth in close flyby

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A car-sized asteroid discovered over the weekend made a close flyby of Earth today (July 28), passing our planet at a range that rivals the orbits of some

 

high-flying satellites.

 

The asteroid 2020 OY4, which was first detected on Sunday (July 26), made its closest approach today at 1:31 a.m. EDT (0531 GMT) when it zipped by Earth

 

at a speed of about 27,700 mph (44,600 km/h), according to the European Space Agency. The asteroid is just under 10 feet (3 meters) wide and posed no

 

impact risk to Earth, but did approach the flight paths of geosynchronous satellites.

 

"A tiny, 3 meter asteroid called 2020 OY4 skimmed past Earth just a few hours ago, passing within the orbit of satellites in the geostationary ring," ESA

 

officials wrote in a Twitter update.

 

This NASA graphic shows the locations of asteroid 2020 OY4 and Earth during a close flyby of the asteroid on July 28, 2020.  (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

 

Estimates from ESA's Center for Near-Earth Object Coordination Center and NASA's Asteroid Watch outreach tool vary in the exact distance of asteroid

 

2020 OY4 at its closest approach.

 

NASA's tool listed the closest distance as about 25,800 miles (41,400 km), which is just outside the ring of geosynchronous satellites 22,236 miles

 

(35,786 km) above Earth's equator. ESA's asteroid-tracking center pegged the flyby range at about 21,900 miles (35,170 km), or just inside the satellite

 

orbit ring.

 

his image of asteroid 2020 OY4 (identified by arrow) by Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project was captured on July 27, 2020, one day before the

 

asteroid's close approach to Earth. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project)

 

Masi captured a photo of asteroid 2020 OY4 on Monday (July 27), just ahead of the flyby. In the image, the asteroid looks like a bright dot on a sea of

 

black streaked by star lines.

 

"The telescope tracked the fast apparent motion of the asteroid; this is why stars show as long trails, while the asteroid looks like a bright and sharp dot

 

of light in the center of the image, marked by an arrow," Masi wrote in an image description.

 

Asteroids the size of 2020 OY4 fly by Earth several times a month, NASA officials have said in the past. In June 2019, an asteroid slightly larger than 2020

 

OY4 actually hit the Earth, but broke up harmlessly in the atmosphere, astronomers said.

 

"Of course, there were no risks at all to our planet," wrote astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project in Ceccano, Italy.

 

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