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Posts by
Eddie Irizarry
Biggest asteroid to pass close (and undetected) this year
Asteroid 2020 LD passed within the moon's distance on June 5, but wasn't discovered until June 7. It's the 45th known and the largest asteroid to sweep within a lunar-distance of Earth so far in 2020.
June 11, 2020
View Comet SWAN online
We suspect most of you have not seen this comet, which is rising only shortly before the sun now. Let the Virtual Telescope's Gianluca Masi show it to you online this week.
May 24, 2020
Online viewing of large asteroid rescheduled for April 29
A cloudy sky last night prevented the online viewing of large, close-passing asteroid 1998 OR2. The Virtual Telescope Project will be trying again today to show you the asteroid, which passed us earlier today.
April 29, 2020
Will you see BepiColombo’s goodbye flyby on April 9?
BepiColombo is a spacecraft on a roundabout journey to Mercury. It'll sweep near Earth tonight, using Earth as a gravity slingshot to send it hurtling toward the inner solar system. For most of us, BepiColombo will pass unseen. But people with telescopes might spot it! Charts and more here.
April 9, 2020
Is bright Comet ATLAS disintegrating?
Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) has been fainter during the last few nights. It's possible it's disintegrating (as comets sometimes do). Details here.
April 8, 2020
No, asteroid 2007 FT3 won’t hit Earth in October
Why is the internet so chock-full of stories about asteroids on a collision course with Earth? At this rate, we should have been obliterated many times over already. Here comes the newest scare story: asteroid 2007 FT3. No, it won't hit us, either.
September 18, 2019
ESA and ESO confirm asteroid will miss Earth in September
Asteroid 2006 QV89, a space rock that'll pass closest to Earth on September 9, will not strike Earth. Details here, including a recent, fortunate non-detection of the asteroid by ESA and ESO.
August 1, 2019
A small asteroid hit us last weekend
Asteroid 2019 MO exploded in our atmosphere with an energy of about 3 to 5 kilotons of TNT. Such events happen once or twice yearly, astronomers say. Most are unexpected, but this space rock was detected hours before it struck.
June 26, 2019
Video: Asteroid 1999 KW4 as it swept past
It wasn't visible to the eye, but some telescope users in Earth's Southern Hemisphere caught it at its May 25 closest approach. Now Northern Hemisphere observers will get their chance. Charts here, and check out this cool video!
May 26, 2019
Another asteroid disintegrates over Russia
A bright meteor was caught in many dashcam videos - in broad daylight - on April 6, 2019, over the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk. See a video compilation here.
April 16, 2019
