Newly discovered asteroid 2018 WZ1 flew past Earth at 0.28 LD
A newly discovered asteroid designated 2018 WZ1 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.28 LD / 0.00073 AU (109 206 km / 67 857 miles) on November 27, 2018. This is the 69th known asteroid to fly by our planet within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and the 13th this month.
Asteroid 2018 WZ1 was discovered at Mt. Lemmon Survey, Arizona on November 28, 2018, one day after its closest approach.
It belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and has an estimated diameter between 3.6 and 8.1 m (11.8 and 26.5 feet).
It flew past us at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 14.19 km/s at 10:27 UTC on November 27.
[ Ephemeris | Orbit Diagram | Orbital Elements | Mission Design | Physical Parameters | Close-Approach Data ]
References
Asteroid 2018 WZ1 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 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. Credit: Minor Planet Center
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