Asteroid 2018 MZ4 flew past Earth at 0.54 LD
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 MZ4 flew past Earth at 0.54 LD / 0.00139 AU (207 941 km / 129 208 miles) on June 16, 2018, one day before it was discovered. This is 36th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year.
2018 MZ4 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and has an estimated size between 4.6 and 10 m (15 – 32.8 feet). It was first observed at Palomar Mountain – ZTF on June 17, 2018.
The object flew past us at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 9.76 km/s at 18:55 UTC.
[ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Mission Design | Physical Parameters | Close-Approach Data ]
References:
Asteroid 2018 MZ4 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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