(Newswire.net — January 25, 2015) — Astronomers are preparing to follow an asteroid as it passes relatively near our planet tomorrow. Named 2004 BL86, the asteroid, which is as long as five football fields, presentsno imminent danger for Earth. The closest it will come to our planet will be some 1.2 million kilometers, which is three times the distance to the moon.
This asteroid is, however, classified as ‘potentially dangerous’ by scientists. Potentially dangerous objects are closer than 20 distances from the Earth to the moon.
Hypothetically, if it would hit the Earth it will cause a disaster of the epic proportions. Even if it landed in the ocean, it would create the tsunami wave, which would flood every coastline city within minutes.
“While it poses no threat to Earth for the foreseeable future, it’s a relatively close approach by a relatively large asteroid, so it provides us a unique opportunity to observe and learn more,” Don Yeomans from NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement.
It is very rare that such a huge space rocks comes this close to Earth. Scientists say the next expected near pass will be in 2027. As for 2004 BL86 itself, it will stay close enough that it can be monitored from Earth for another 200 years.
Asteroid 2004 BL86 should be visible from the America, Europe, and African continent on January 26, between 11:07 pm and 11:52 pm ET (04:07 and 04:52 GMT). Astronomers say the asteroid would be possible to observe through small telescopes or stronger binoculars.
“I may grab my favorite binoculars and give it a shot myself,” Yeomans said in the statement. “Asteroids are something special. Not only did asteroids provide Earth with the building blocks of life and much of its water, but in the future, they will become valuable resources for mineral ores and other vital natural resources.”
Scientists, who will be watching the asteroid from the observatories, will gather valuable data from this relatively close asteroid pass.
Reportedly, while it is in its closest position to the Earth, NASA’s Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico will try to create radar-generated images of the asteroid.
2004 BL86 was discovered on January 30, 2004, by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR), responsible for the majority of asteroid discoveries from 1998 until 2005, when it was overtaken by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS).