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(CNN) – A huge double asteroid is heading towards Earth, but scientists say it will pass with a lot of space.
The asteroid, called
1999 KW4,
We will approach our planet Saturday closer, but it is important to note that this distance has a different meaning than that of space people, who work at the galactic scale.
the
European Space Agency
indicates that it will be 3,219,961 miles (5,182,024 km), more than 13 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
This is what is called a bianary system because there are two asteroids gravitarily related. The largest has a diameter of a little less than one kilometer and its asteroid, "moon", about a third of that size.
It was discovered for the first time in 1999 by scientists from the LINEAR project in New Mexico.
ESA tweeted an animation showing 1999 KW4, filmed on May 9 by a 0.6 meter telescope on the French island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean.
He describes the asteroid as "
the gray drop in the center of this animation.
"
Scientists will use dozens of telescopes around the world to collect as much data as possible at the passing of the asteroid.
It will not be visible to the naked eye, but
EarthSky.org says amateur astronomers
They may be able to see it if they use a telescope 8 "in diameter or more, which will look like a slow moving star.
The system will get even closer to Earth (but will stay fairly far away) on its next visit, but this will only happen in May 2036.
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