Asteroid 1998 OR2 is the largest space rock that will fly past Earth this year, and even amateurs can see it in the night sky.
The huge asteroid is due to fly close to Earth in April, and although it is considered 'potentially dangerous' by NASA, the only show it will put on over the next several centuries will be in the night sky.
Asteroid 1998 OR2 is believed to be 4.1 km wide, making it comparable to a decent-sized mountain in many parts of the world.
Fortunately, when he gets close to the maximum distance on April 29, it will be 6 million km. However, it is still considered potentially hazardous because NASA's Near-Earth Space Resources Research Center classifies anything that is bright enough that is up to 7.4 million kilometers from Earth as such.
This means that there are many potentially dangerous asteroids that we know of, and virtually none of them pose a real threat to our planet at any given moment.
But 1998 OR2 is the largest asteroid to fly close to our planet in 2020, which means it could be visible next month, even to amateur astronomers.
“Looking through telescopes, astronomers will see it as a slow star,” writes Eddie Irizarri for EarthSky. 'Observers with telescopes at least 6 or 8 inches (the number indicates the size of the primary mirror) will see the asteroid (very slowly) moving in front of the stars.'
Irizarri offers more detailed tips for finding the Space Stone here.
If you don't have a telescope large enough to make your own observations, the Rome Virtual Telescope Project has already provided you with a live stream starting April 28th.
