Asteroid 2018 CC to flyby Earth at 0.5 LD on February 6

A newly discovered asteroid designated 2018 CC will flyby Earth at a distance of 0.50 LD / 0.00128 AU (~191 485 km / 118 983 miles) on February 6, 2018. This is the 9^th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year, 8^th since January 15 and first this month.

This asteroid was first observed at Catalina Sky Survey on February 4, one day before its closest approach to Earth.

It belongs to Apollo group of asteroids and has an estimated diameter between 13 and 29 m (42.6 – 95.1 feet).

Asteroid 2018 CC will fly past us at 20:45 UTC on February 6 at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 10.53 km/s.

[ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Physical Parameters | Close-Approach Data ]

We had 13 days with no known <1 LD flyby after 7 asteroids flew past us within 1 lunar distance from January 15 – 24. The silence was broken yesterday when 2 new close flybys were discovered.

The next known <1 LD flyby will take place at 09:47 UTC on February 9 when asteroid 2018 CB zips past us at a distance of 0.17 LD / 0.00043 AU. 

Reference:

Asteroid 2018 CC at Minor Planet Center; at CNEOS

Featured image: The green line indicates the object's apparent motion relative to the Earth, and the bright green marks are the object's location at approximately one-hour intervals. The Moon's orbit is grey. The blue arrow points in the direction of Earth's motion and the yellow arrow points toward the Sun. Credit: Minor Planet Center.