A large stony asteroid will safely pass close to Earth on 18 of January of 2022, with an estimated size of around 3,280 feet, about 2.5 times the height of the Empire State Building.
The asteroid (
) 1994 PC1, we have known him since 1994 and although it is classified as a potentially dangerous one due to its size and its relatively close flybys of our planet, NASA assures that it does not represent a threat to Earth.
At its closest point, it will pass a little more than five times the distance from Earth to the Moon, which will occur on of January of 2022 at 4: 51 pm EST; this will be the closest distance of this asteroid to our planet for at least the next few 200 years.
It is worth mentioning that an asteroid of this size hits the Earth, on average, approximately every 542,000 years; this one, to be exact, will pass 1.2 million miles from Earth, and although it is a very safe distance, it is close enough to be easily observed with a small telescope.
) 1994 PC1 will be in the constellation Pisces on 18 of January of 2022. (Photo: Eddie Irizarry/ Stellarium)
Potentially dangerous asteroid
Robert McNaught discovered the asteroid (
) 1994 PC1 at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia on August 9, 1994. With their trajectory in hand, astronomers found the space rock in earlier images from other observations dating back to September 1974. With 47 years of observations, its orbit is well established.
The huge space rock travels to 35,754 miles per hour relative to Earth. The considerable speed will allow amateur astronomers to detect the speedy asteroid. It will appear as a point of light, similar to a star, passing in front of background stars over the course of the night.
The asteroid (
) 1994 PC1 will glow around magnitude 10. A 10th magnitude object is a decent target for observers using a 6-inch or larger backyard telescope from a dark-sky site.
How to see it with a telescope
Sky enthusiasts using a small telescope pointed at the correct time and location could spot the asteroid ( 2022) 1994 PC1. For North America, observers with home telescopes have the best chance of seeing the huge asteroid hours after the close approach of the 18 of January.
They should be able to detect the movement of the space rock thanks to its size and proximity. When the asteroid passes close to fixed background stars, the movement will be more noticeable.
Another good technique to detect the asteroid is to connect a camera to the telescope and take exposures of 30 to 45 seconds. Point the camera and telescope at a reference star or object in the path of the asteroid.
This image below could help you find reference stars. An image exposed for several seconds shows the movement of the space rock as a beam of light, while shorter exposures reveal the asteroid as a point of light that appears in different places in the images.
Despite the full moon of of January, the asteroid will be easy to locate with small telescopes, since the Moon will be located at a very good distance in the sky from the area in which will be the space rock.
Furthermore, experienced observers agree that the asteroid (
) 1994 PC1 will be one of the easiest asteroids to locate , if the telescope points to the correct position and time.
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