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By David Freeman
A large asteroid and its tiny companion moon will fly over the Earth harmlessly this weekend.
The so-called binary asteroid, dubbed 1999 KW4, will come closest to 19:05. AND, when the matched objects will be about 3 million kilometers from Earth and will move at a speed of about 50,000 miles an hour.
Although 1999 KW4 is designated as a potentially dangerous asteroid, there is no chance that it will reach Earth. Even in this case, astronomers will follow the flyby with the help of a combination of terrestrial and space telescopes – as part of a continuing effort to improve our planetary defenses against the catastrophic strikes of the planet. 39 asteroids of the type seen during a disturbing simulation recently conducted in Washington.
"It's probably one of the closest binary flybys in recent history," said Vishnu Reddy, planetary scientist at the University of Arizona at Tucson. . "That's what makes it a very interesting target."
Even at the closest approach, the asteroid will be too weak to be seen with the naked eye, according to Reddy.
The 1999 KW4 asteroid was discovered on May 20, 1999 at the Asteroid Research Facilities near Lincoln's Land, near Socorro, New Mexico, and has since been the subject of many studies.
Observations show that the main object, or Alpha, has a width of about 0.8 miles and is shaped like a top with a prominent ridge around its equator. The smallest object, or beta, is about a third of the size of the Alpha object and revolves around it at a distance of about 2.5 km.
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