NASA showed threatens Earth asteroid

Photo received the radio telescope, “Arecibo”.

Appeared a large near-earth asteroid Phaethon, which is in mid-December closer to Earth at a record close distance in the XXI century.

This is stated on the website of the National Directorate of the USA on Aeronautics and space research (NASA).

According to the astronomer from the Observatory of the “Arecibo” Patrick Taylor, the latest data from the telescope indicate that the Phaeton is similar in shape to Benn, one of the most dangerous near-earth asteroids.

“The only difference is that inside the Phaeton can accommodate about a thousand Benn. The dark spot on its surface, may be a crater or other depression which does not reflect the radar beams back to Earth,” said Taylor.

NASA remind us that the Phaeton was discovered on 11 October 1983, the infrared space Observatory IRAS. The asteroid identified as a large circular object with a diameter of five kilometers. The Phaeton is among the so-called apollonovka asteroids small celestial bodies approaching the Sun at a small distance.

According to observations, the Phaeton is approaching the Sun at a distance of 20 million kilometers. NASA experts expect that the asteroid is completely gone in the near future.

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