Asteroid 2018 EZ2 to flyby Earth at 0.56 LD on March 14
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.
A newly discovered asteroid designated 2018 EZ2 will flyby Earth at a distance of 0.56 LD / 0.00144 AU (~215 420 km / 133 856 miles) on March 14, 2018.
This asteroid has an estimated diameter between 13 and 29 m (42 – 95 feet) and belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It was first observed at Siding Spring-Janess-G, JAXA on March 12, 2018.
It will fly by us at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 9.47 km/s at 02:42 UTC on March 14.
This is 19th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and the second this month.
Reference:
Asteroid 2018 EZ2 at Minor Planet Center; at CNEOS
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
Commenting rules and guidelines
We value the thoughts and opinions of our readers and welcome healthy discussions on our website. In order to maintain a respectful and positive community, we ask that all commenters follow these rules.