Asteroid nearly the size of Taipei 101 will pass Earth at end of week
The Taipei Astronomical Museum issued a press release saying an asteroid with a diameter roughly the size of Taipei 101 will pass closest to Earth at 10:40 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 2).
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has named it Asteroid 2008 OS7, which will pass at a distance of 2,850,000 km, traveling at a speed of 18.2 kilometers per second. There is little to no chance that the asteroid will hit the Earth.
Close Approaches: Over time, 2008 OS7 has made several close approaches to Earth. For example, on July 20, 1964, it had a close encounter at a distance of about 0.034 astronomical units (AU), which is around 5 million kilometers (3 million miles) away.
Future Observations: Astronomers continue to monitor 2008 OS7 and other near-Earth asteroids to refine their orbits and better understand their properties.
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