Asteroid 2018 FQ3 flew past Earth at 0.73 LD, one day before discovery
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.
Asteroid 2018 FQ3, first observed at Catalina Sky Survey on March 20, flew past Earth at a distance of 0.73 LD / 0.00187 AU (~279 748 km / 173 827 miles) on March 19, 2018.
This is Apollo class asteroid with an estimated diameter of 5.1 and 11 m (16.7 – 36 feet).
It flew past Earth at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 11.04 km/s at 05:59 UTC on March 19, one day before it was discovered.
[ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Physical Parameters | Close-Approach Data ]
This was the 22nd known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year. It was preceded by 2018 FE3 on March 18 and will be followed by 2018 FZ3 on March 23.
Reference:
Asteroid 2018 FQ3 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.
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