A large asteroid is expected to pass relatively close to Earth on Saturday night. In some places, it will be visible with binoculars or telescopes.
The asteroid, which has been named 2023 DZ2, is about 40 to 100 metres in size. It will be at its closest point around 21:00 Belgian time at 168,000 kilometres from the planet, less than half the distance between Earth and the moon. The asteroid is moving at more than 28,000 km/h.
While asteroids often fly past Earth, sometimes coming relatively close, the passage on Saturday is uncommon, with NASA stating that such an event only happens about once every 10 years. NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office has been monitoring 2023 DZ2 and it has been deemed safe.
The large object was discovered in February this year by astronomers at the observatory of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. Since then, astronomers have continued to observe the asteroid to get a better idea of its size and orbit.
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The DZ2 will provide a unique opportunity for science as it is the kind of object which NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, which aims to prepare humanity to defend itself if a potential asteroid threat were ever discovered, was designed for.
"While DZ2 doesn't present a threat, objects like it may in the future and the DART mission has shown us that kinetic deflector technology works to redirect asteroids," Seth Jacobson, a planetary scientist at NASA, said.
