A massive “potentially hazardous” asteroid, measuring approximately 1,200 feet (366 meters) in diameter, is set to make its closest-ever approach to Earth on record early tomorrow morning. The historic flyby will be livestreamed for everyone to see.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the asteroid 2020 XR will reach a minimum distance of 1.37 million miles (2.2 million kilometers) from Earth at 0:27 ET, its closest approach on record. The asteroid is traveling at roughly 27,500 miles per hour (44,300 kilometers per hour).
The encounter can be watched via a free livestream from the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP), which starts at 13:30 ET today. The European Space Agency (ESA) has also confirmed that the asteroid will be visible to 8-inch telescopes.
Asteroid 2020 XR is classified as a near Earth object, meaning its orbit sometimes brings it within 1.3 astronomical units of the sun. However, astronomers have refined its trajectory and ruled out any hazard for tonight’s flyby.
The asteroid last approached Earth in December 1977, but at that time, its minimum distance was roughly 10 million miles further away than expected during tonight’s encounter. It is not expected to approach this close again until at least 2196.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/asteroids/massive-potentially-hazardous-asteroid-due-to-make-closest-ever-approach-to-earth-tonight-and-you-can-watch-it-live