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2025-01-13 Science & Technology

Huge mountain-size asteroid to be visible from Earth ~~this~~ last weekend

[GEO.TV] Huge asteroid (887) 'Alinda' has made its closest approach towards Earth in decades and is about to peak in brightness in a rare once-in-a-decade event.

The event can be observed this weekend from home with basic stargazing binoculars or in a free livestream, reported Live Science.

The near-Earth asteroid named as (887) Alinda measures an estimated 2.6 miles (4.2 kilometres) wide — roughly the width of Manhattan, according to Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Moreover, the chunky space rock made its closest approach to Earth on Wednesday in decades, swooping to within 7.6 million miles (12.3 million km) of our planet, or about 32 times the average distance between Earth and the Moon.

It is important to note that Alinda isn't predicted to make another close approach to Earth until 2087.

Its large size also makes it a great target for curious stargazers while an asteroid this big could trigger a mass extinction event if it were to collide with Earth.

Alinda will peak in brightness at a magnitude of 9.4 on Sunday. The asteroid will be visible moving through the constellation Gemini.

Posted by Fred 2025-01-13 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [11161 views ] Top

#1 Live Science

Posted by Skidmark 2025-01-13 04:36|| 2025-01-13 04:36|| Front Page Top

#2 X-class solar flares hit a new record in 2024 and could spike further this year — but the sun isn't entirely to blame, experts say

I blame global warming.

Posted by Skidmark 2025-01-13 04:41|| 2025-01-13 04:41|| Front Page Top

#3 ^ and Trump!

Posted by Frank G 2025-01-13 05:55|| 2025-01-13 05:55|| Front Page Top

#4 Once-in-a-lifetime comet will become visible for the first time in 160,000 YEARS today - here's the best time to see the bright space rock

Too busy?
Catch it next time.

Posted by Skidmark 2025-01-13 14:25|| 2025-01-13 14:25|| Front Page Top

#5 /\ I caught the tail end of the last one.

Posted by Besoeker 2025-01-13 14:47|| 2025-01-13 14:47|| Front Page Top

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