Asteroid HQ124: Huge Asteroid will pass by Planet Earth this Sunday

A potential hazardous asteroid is approaching Earth on Sunday, 8 June 2014. The gigantic asteroid named 'Asteroid HQ 124' is flying at a speed of 31,000 mph. The dangerous meteorite that was discovered in April this year has now earned a new name 'The Beast,' according to NASA.

The asteroid is inclined to the horizon over 25 degrees of the solar system and is currently inclined to about -71 degrees.

On Friday, 6 June, the asteroid will brighten up to about magnitude 13.8 and will be able to locate in the pale constellation Horologium. However, on 8 June the asteroid will make the nearest approach to Earth and cross the cosmic equator to become a northern hemisphere object, according to Guardian Liberty Voice.

Though it is not unusual for an asteroid to fly past Earth or just outside the moon's orbit, it is less unlikely to discover a formerly unknown celestial body of such size.

The meteorite, asteroid HQ 124 was discovered in April 2014 by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) that was launched in December 2009.

The meteorite will be out of reach from most of the southern telescopes and will not be visible in astronomical twilight while the meteorite closely approaches the Earth. It can, however, be viewed online. The near approach of the asteroid will be webcasted by the Slooh Visual Observatory website live from Australia.

Viewers will be able to view the rare sighting from the website. The website will begin the live coverage on 5 June 2014 at 2:30 PM EDT (18:30 GMT) or 6 June 2014 at 12:00 am IST. It will be accompanied by discussions held by several experts and astronomers.


Check out for the live coverage of the asteroid approaching Earth



Recently, NASA and Slooh have teamed up in order to involve other scientists who are not astronomers to help them track Near-Earth objects by using Slooh's observatories. Using this opportunity, scientists can gain access to expert telescopes and able to locate asteroids that could be hazardous to the entire world.

The newly discovered hazard meteorite has shown the importance of finding and tracking the orbits of asteroids. Moreover, it has been found that Near-Earth objects like an asteroid of a great size could make major impact to a city.






Source: .ibtimes.com.in