14 DAY TRIAL // About a week ago, on July 7, a fairly large asteroid flew by Earth, and the visit did not go unnoticed. On the contrary, researchers with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory kept a close eye on the space rock as it moved past our planet.
With the help of the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia and a radar transmitter at the Deep Space Network in California, US, the scientists even managed to obtain a total of 42 images of the asteroid.
The images, available below, show the space rock over a 29-minute flight period.
In a report detailing their work, the scientists who studied the asteroid during its July 7 flyby of our planet explain that the images they obtained have a resolution of 3.75 meters (12.3 feet) per pixel.
“With the help of NASA, we were able to perform a particularly exciting observing session with these astronomers and demonstrate the power of radio astronomy to study near-Earth asteroids,” said researcher Alyson Ford.
So, what's the deal with this space rock?
This asteroid that visited Earth just a few days ago is dubbed 2015 HM10. It was discovered earlier this year, on April 19, using the Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo in Chile.
Astronomers estimate that it measures about 40 to 80 meters (130 to 260 feet) across at its widest point. As for its shape, the space rock kind of, sort of resembles an elongated cosmic potato.
It is estimated that, during its July 7 flyby, the asteroid came within 440,000 kilometers (273,500 miles) of our planet, which is just a tad more than the distance between our planet and the Moon.
Sheer awesomeness aside, the reason researchers took the time to have a close look at this space rock as it buzzed by our planet was that they wanted to learn more about its orbit to figure out whether or not it might one day hit us.
“Radar studies such as these are essential to fully constrain the orbit of these objects to determine if they pose any future risk,” explained astronomer Toney Minter in a statement.
