Giant asteroid nicknamed ‘Juno’ will pass Earth this weekend

Stargazers are gearing up for a big weekend because a giant asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth since 2005, lighting up the night sky.

The 145-mile wide silicate space rock is one of the oldest asteroids in our solar system. NASA says Juno or 3 Juno is also one of the largest at one-fifteenth the diameter of the moon, making it the parent of many of the meteorites that rain on Earth.

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Amateur astronomers should be able to see Juno with good binoculars or a small telescope just before midnight on Saturday 17th November.

While it’s visible for the next few weeks, this is when the asteroid will be at its brightest to binoculars, passing at 92,955,806 miles of our planet. Juno won’t come this close to Earth again until 2031.

“To find Juno, look toward the Eridanus constellation, next to Orion and Taurus, rising in the east near local midnight,” National Geographic says.

“Juno will appear to be just over one degree west of the faint star 32 Eridani.”

The asteroid was first spotted by German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding in September 1804.