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And we'll have our first Christmas full moon in almost 40 years.
Not one to be forgotten in the midst of all our Christmas celebrations, space is giving us plenty of reasons to look up and marvel at its various cosmic phenomena, sending an asteroid our way on 24 December, and then dishing up the first Christmas full moon in almost 40 years.
You don't want to miss out on seeing either of these events - we won't see Asteroid 2003 SD220 around these parts again till 2018, and we have an even longer wait for the Moon and Christmas to line up again. NASA predicts that the next full moon to fall on Christmas Day will not occur until 2034.
At its closest point, Asteroid 2003 SD220 will zoom past Earth about 11 million km (6,787,600 miles) away, which is more than 28 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. While only professional and amateur astronomers will have access to the telescopes needed to spot it, this is no tiny speck in the sky. Astronomers have estimated that the asteroid is around 2 km in length, and it's hurtling through space at around 27 km/second.
NASA advises that we don't have to worry about it impacting Earth for at least the next couple of centuries, so go ahead and celebrate your next 200 Christmases with abandon. You also don't have to worry about reports that Asteroid 2003 SD220 will cause earthquakes as it makes it closest flyby - they couldn't be further from the truth.
Source:
http://www.sciencealert.com/look-up-an-asteroid-will-be-zooming-past-earth-on-christmas-eve
Not one to be forgotten in the midst of all our Christmas celebrations, space is giving us plenty of reasons to look up and marvel at its various cosmic phenomena, sending an asteroid our way on 24 December, and then dishing up the first Christmas full moon in almost 40 years.
You don't want to miss out on seeing either of these events - we won't see Asteroid 2003 SD220 around these parts again till 2018, and we have an even longer wait for the Moon and Christmas to line up again. NASA predicts that the next full moon to fall on Christmas Day will not occur until 2034.
At its closest point, Asteroid 2003 SD220 will zoom past Earth about 11 million km (6,787,600 miles) away, which is more than 28 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. While only professional and amateur astronomers will have access to the telescopes needed to spot it, this is no tiny speck in the sky. Astronomers have estimated that the asteroid is around 2 km in length, and it's hurtling through space at around 27 km/second.
NASA advises that we don't have to worry about it impacting Earth for at least the next couple of centuries, so go ahead and celebrate your next 200 Christmases with abandon. You also don't have to worry about reports that Asteroid 2003 SD220 will cause earthquakes as it makes it closest flyby - they couldn't be further from the truth.
Source:
http://www.sciencealert.com/look-up-an-asteroid-will-be-zooming-past-earth-on-christmas-eve
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