In Krasnodar, an astronomer was able to take a picture of an 800-meter asteroid approaching Earth. This is reported by the Telegram channel of the International Network of Optical Telescopes of the Institute of Applied Mathematics (KIAM & ISON).
Experts track a fairly large asteroid – its size is about 800 meters. The asteroid will approach the Earth on February 16 to 4.6 million km. It is specified that it moves at a speed of 24.6 km / s.
The picture was taken by the head of the astrophysical observatory of KubSU Alexander Ivanov. The exact parameters of the celestial body will make it possible to clarify the trajectory of its movement and assess how dangerous the asteroid is for the Earth in the medium term.
Earlier, on February 7, astronomers discovered 12 new moons of Jupiter. The size of satellites is 1–3 km, they resemble asteroids, since their mass is small for acquiring a spherical shape.
New moons of Jupiter have been identified by telescopes in Chile and Hawaii in 2021 and 2022. Their orbits were confirmed in the course of further observations.
New space objects have been included in the list of the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union. The satellites have not yet been named.
