A wise person once said that you should be careful what you wish for. We say that you should also think twice before writing your wishes in that letter to Santa Claus. Astronomers are now trying to find out more about a mysterious asteroid that will mark its closest approach to Earth before Christmas.
The space rock in question has been dubbed 2015 RN35, and it will pass by our planet next week, from Thursday to Saturday, according to news.com.au. Luckily, the asteroid will pass by our world at 686,000 km away. That’s almost twice as much as the distance that exists between our planet and the Moon.
No need to worry
Although there’s no need to worry about the asteroid in question hitting us, astronomers still have a lot to learn about the cosmic object. Furthermore, the European Space Agency (ESA) is now asking for the help of the public to spot the asteroid with their own telescopes. It seems that pretty much anyone can qualify as long as they have a telescope at home. Therefore, if you still have a telescope long forgotten in your attic or basement, now’s the time to grab it!
The ESA stated:
Observers in the Southern hemisphere will get the best view during close approach, but Europe will get a chance over the following days until about 19 December,
2015 RN35 will not shine bright in the skies like the Star of Bethlehem did millennia ago.
Smaller than the statue of liberty this asteroid is pretty little on astronomical scales.
Luckily or not, asteroids approach our planet very frequently. This means that even if you don’t get to spot the asteroid that makes the subject of this article, you will have many other occasions when it comes to other space rocks that will approach Earth in the near future.
