Asteroid 2018 VJ10 flew past Earth at 0.52 LD
Image credit: 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 half 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.
Asteroid designated 2018 VJ10, first observed at Palomar Observatory in California (ZTF) on November 15, flew past Earth at a distance of 0.52 LD / 0.00133 AU (198 965 km / 123 631 miles) on November 14, 2018.
2018 VJ10 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. Its estimated diameter is between 5 and 11 m (16 and 36 feet).
The asteroid flew past us at 20:39 UTC at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 13.50 km/s.
This is the 62nd known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and 6th this month.
[ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Mission Design | Physical Parameters | Close-Approach Data ]
Reference
Asteroid 2018 VJ10 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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