By The newly-discovered asteroid posed no risk to our planet.
Image credit: Getty images
A newly invented asteroid stuck safely between the Earth and moon during a very close encounter this week.
On Monday (Feb. 12), an asteroid named 2024 CY1 traveled within 75,278 miles (121,148 kilometers) of Earth, which is about 31 percent of the average distance between the moon and Earth (238,855 miles; 384,400 km), also called “lunar distance.” The asteroid’s close approach occurred at 2:24 a.m. ET (0724 GMT), according to the Virtual Telescope Project.
The asteroid 2024 CY1 was just recently detected on Feb. 9, only three days before its close approach. Astronomers spotted the asteroid using the Pan-STARRS 2 telescope located near the summit of Haleakala on the Island of Maui, Hawaii. It is the 10th asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance in 2024 so far, and the third this month, The Watchers reported.
Pan-STARRS 2 (which stands for Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) is designed to hunt for near-Earth objects, such as asteroids and comets, that may cause a risk for potential Earth impact.
Most of the objects near the earth are asteroids that are about 10 feet (3 meters) to approximately 25 miles (40 km) across in size. Measuring between 12.5 and 27.5 feet (3.8 and 8.4 meters) in diameter, 2024 CY1 is comparatively small asteroid, causing no risk to Earth.
Near Earth objects have orbits that bring them to within 120 million miles (195 million km) of the sun, means they can go through Earth’s orbital neighborhood. The distance between the Earth and the sun is measured in astronomical units (AU), where 1 AU is equal to about 93 million miles (150 million km). During its recent flyby, 2024 CY1 traveled at a distance of 0.00081 AU.
The asteroid 2024 CY1 belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids, which involves asteroids that cross Earth’s orbit. By using instruments like Pan-STARRS 2, astronomers are capable to calculate an object’s orbit and determine if — and when — it could come close to Earth.
