The space rock 2018 CB is up to 40m long and will come within 64,000km of the planet’s surface

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

An asteroid is headed our way – the second this week – but there’s no need to worry.

The newly discovered space rock will pass within 39,000 miles (63,000km) of Earth on Friday evening GMT. That’s less than one-fifth the distance to the moon.

Designated 2018 CB, the asteroid is an estimated 50ft to 130ft (15 meters to 40 meters) in size, possibly bigger than the one that exploded over Russia five years ago this month.

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The manager of Nasa’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, Paul Chodas, said asteroids this size usually don’t come this close – just once or twice a year.

While Friday’s close approach isn’t a huge deal, Chodas said in an email “it is a reminder that asteroids can pass very close to our planet and it’s important that we find these objects when they do get close”.

It will be the second time this week an asteroid buzzes Earth. On Tuesday, an asteroid passed within 114,000 miles (183,000km), slightly more than halfway to the moon.

Both of this week’s asteroids were discovered on 4 February by astronomers at the Nasa-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. Last year, more than 2,000 previously unknown near-Earth asteroids were discovered, according to Chodas.

A whopper asteroid named Apophis – estimated at approximately 1,000 feet or more than 300 meters – will pass at just one-tenth the distance between Earth and the moon in 2029. In the meantime, astronomers are on the lookout for asteroids lurking in the cosmic shadows.

“These asteroids are simply too small to be detected until they get really close to our planet,” he wrote.

That was the case at Chelyabinsk, Russia on 15 February 2013; the incoming object – an intense fireball as it entered the atmosphere – caught everyone by surprise.</s>Last Sunday, the so-called “Super Bowl asteroid” safely flew by Earth, following weeks of reports that focused on how closely it would skim Earth, and what would have happened had it smashed into our planet. While Asteroid 2018 CB wasn’t as large as the previous week’s Asteroid 2002 AJ129, it stood out for the fact that it flew by much closer on Friday, and how it was only discovered five days prior, unlike other near-Earth asteroids that had been discovered well before their close encounters.

According to CNET, Asteroid 2018 CB made its flyby at around 10:30 a.m. Pacific time on Friday, safely skimming our planet but doing so at a distance of only 39,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) from Earth. As noted by NASA Center for Near-Earth Object Studies manager Paul Chodas, the asteroid was relatively small in size, but was possibly larger than the meteor that crashed into the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, and also one of the few objects that are generally expected to make such a close approach to Earth.

“Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet – maybe only once or twice a year,” said Chodas.

The aforementioned Chelyabinsk meteor was only about 50 to 60 feet (17 to 20 meters) wide, but when it exploded over the Russian city in February 2013, it created shockwaves strong enough to shatter windows in over 3,600 apartment blocks, and even knock people off their feet, The Guardian wrote. Thousands were hospitalized for injuries related to the asteroid impact, mostly due to falling debris, but also due to skin and retinal burns caused by the intense brightness of the space rock.

In contrast, Asteroid 2018 CB was believed to be substantially larger, with its width of about 50 to 130 feet (15 to 40 meters), making it possibly longer than a blue whale, as several publications noted. But Live Science added that the asteroid’s size was only a small part of what made it interesting to many observers, as astronomers were only able to spot 2018 CB on Sunday, February 4, only five days before its very close flyby.

According to Live Science, it’s not unusual either for asteroids to be spotted just a few days before they skim past Earth, as there are many near-Earth objects that literally fly under the radar and zoom past our planet without ever being detected. The publication added that asteroids are especially hard to track when compared to other space objects due to their small size. Putting things in context, Asteroid 2018 CB measures a mere fraction of Vesta’s diameter; Vesta, which is the universe’s largest known asteroid, is 329 miles (530 kilometers) wide.

At the moment, NASA is still hard at work as it gathers information on up to 90 percent of all asteroids with diameters of more than 460 feet and likely paths that would take them within about 4.65 million miles (7.48 million kilometers) of Earth. Live Science pointed out that these asteroids are all at least nine times larger than Asteroid 2018 CB, which would have made the latter object extremely difficult to spot from a distance, and only allowed astronomers to spot it as it was “basically knocking on our door.”</s>A newly detected house-sized asteroid, designated 2018 CB, is slated to fly by Earth on Friday, February 9, at around 22:30 UTC, with a velocity estimated at being some 26,000 mph (58,000 km/h). The space rock should zip by our planet at a relatively close distance of approximately 0.19 lunar distances (LD). This corresponds to a “mere” 39,000 miles (64,000 kilometers).

2018 CB is an Apollo-type near-Earth object (NEO). It was discovered on Feb. 4 by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS). CSS is a project that is tasked with discovering comets and asteroids, and to search for NEOs, and s based at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab located in Tucson, Arizona.

According to astronomers, 2018 CB has an absolute magnitude of 25.9, and an estimated diameter between 50 and 130 feet (15 and 40 meters). It orbits the Sun every 610 days at a distance of approximately 1.41 AU (one AU is 93 million miles, or the distance between the Earth and the Sun).

“Although 2018 CB is quite small, it might well be larger than the asteroid that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, almost five years ago, in 2013,” said Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena (JPL), California. “Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet – maybe only once or twice a year.”

While 2018 CB will fly by Earth at a relatively close distance, NASA confirmed that the object’s pass poses no danger to us. Skyandtelescope.com also has stated that 2018 CB is not on a collision course with our planet.

“2018 CB will be traveling at around 26,000 mph (58,000 km/h). With that much speed and momentum, it can’t be pulled in by Earth’s gravity, so there’s no cause for alarm,” Bob King of Skyandtelescope.com wrote.

Besides its close approach to Earth on Friday, 2018 CB will also fly past the Moon one day later at around 12:56 UTC at a distance of 0.79 LD, or 188,000 miles (303,000 kilometers). The next fly-by of this asteroid to Earth is expected to take place on March 8, 2023, when it should pass at a much larger distance of approximately 23.3 LD (5.5 million miles, or 8.9 million kilometers).

As of February 8, there were 1,882 Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) detected and none of them is known to be on a collision course with our world. PHAs are asteroids larger than 330 feet (100 meters) that can come closer to Earth than 19.5 LD.

To date, astronomers have discovered more than 17,700 NEOs.

Tomasz Nowakowski is the owner of Astro Watch, one of the premier astronomy and science-related blogs on the internet. Nowakowski reached out to SpaceFlight Insider in an effort to have the two space-related websites collaborate. Nowakowski's generous offer was gratefully received with the two organizations now working to better relay important developments as they pertain to space exploration.</s>Asteroid 2018 CB is on its way to pass Earth tonight.

Asteroid 2018 CB - a 200,000tonne space rock - is on its way to pass Earth tonight.

NASA only last Sunday discovered the asteroid hurtling through space at more than 18,000mph is Earth-bound this evening.

The asteroid could be up to 40 metres long – making it much longer than the blue whale.

NASA also says the rock could be double the size to the meteor that almost wiped out Chelyabinsk in 2013, injuring more than 1,000 people.

The asteroid will be travelling at hypersonic speeds as it flies by at close to five miles per SECOND – making it four times faster than the speediest ever man-made machine, the North American X-15 which can travel at 4,520 miles per hour.</s>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Another asteroid is headed our way — the second this week — but there’s no need to worry.

The newly discovered space rock will pass within 39,000 miles (64,000 kilometers) of Earth on Friday afternoon. That’s less than one-fifth the distance to the moon.

Designated 2018 CB, the asteroid is an estimated 50 feet to 130 feet (15 meters to 40 meters) in size, possibly bigger than the one that exploded over Russia in 2013.

NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies says asteroids this size usually don’t come this close — just once or twice a year.

It will be the second time this week an asteroid buzzes us. On Tuesday, an asteroid passed within 114,000 miles (184,000 kilometers), slightly more than halfway to the moon.</s>A newly discovered asteroid that will fly safely past Earth today (Feb. 9) may be larger than a celestial object that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, five years ago. The newly found interloper, called 2018 CB, is estimated to be from 50 to 130 feet in diameter, and will fly by Earth at about 2:30 p.m. PST (5:30 p.m. EST).

"Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet — maybe only once or twice a year," said Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, in a statement from the agency.

2018 CB is a small asteroid by celestial standards; the largest asteroid in our solar system, Vesta, is roughly 326 miles across. (Dwarf planet Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt at 590 miles across — roughly the size of Texas. It is sometimes referred to as an asteroid.)

But as residents of Chelyabinsk found out in 2013, something 2018 CB's size can cause a lot of damage. That year, an object roughly 51 feet in diameter exploded above the town while hurtling through Earth's atmosphere, shattering glass and causing hundreds of injuries.

The NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey spotted 2018 CB and another asteroid, 2018 CC, on Feb. 4. While 2018 CB isn't entering Earth's atmosphere, the object will whiz by safely at less than 20 percent of the distance from the Earth to the moon.

Coincidentally, 2018 CB's arrival comes just days after two other asteroids safely passed by Earth. On Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 4), asteroid 2002 AJ129 came by the planet at a distance of only 2.6 million miles — 10 times the distance to the moon. (The average distance between the Earth and moon is about 238,855 miles, or 384,400 km.)

Then, on Tuesday (Feb. 6), asteroid 2018 CC made its closest approach, at 114,000 miles, roughly the halfway point between Earth and the moon. Astronomers, however, have known about this asteroid since 2002. It measures from 0.3 miles to 0.75 miles across.

NASA and its Planetary Defense Coordination Office regularly search for and track asteroids using several partner telescopes. The goal is to catalog all near-Earth objects that could pose a threat to the planet. Right now, the agency hasn't announced the detection of any imminent threats. It publishes all its asteroid findings online at the Small-Body Database Browser, which is freely available online.

There are also several asteroid missions in space that are ongoing, or coming up soon, designed to gain more information about how asteroids are formed and where they are located.

NASA's dedicated asteroid-hunting telescope, NEOWISE, will conclude its mission this year when its orbit brings the insturment into a zone with too much sunlight for observations. The agency's OSIRIS-ReX — and Japan's Hayabusa 2 — are on their way to different asteroids to pick up samples for later analysis back at Earth. Two new NASA missions, called Lucy and Psyche, will fly past eight asteroids in the 2020s and 2030s.

NASA is in an ongoing quest to catalog 90 percent of asteroids that are larger than 460 feet wide and that will come to within about 4.65 million miles of Earth, or about 20 times the distance from Earth to the moon, according to the agency. In 2005, Congress tasked NASA with completing this work by 2020, but multiple reports suggest that the agency will miss that deadline. NASA did, however, meet Congress' goal of finding 90 percent of all Near Earth Objects (NEO's) that are 0.6 miles wide in 2010.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.</s>A small asteroid, estimated to measure between 15 and 40 meters, is set to brush past Earth at a distance of just 64,000 kilometres. Dubbed 2018 CB, the asteroid is the second one to pass by Earth this week.

The first close-approaching asteroid – discovered by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) on February 4 – is designated asteroid 2018 CC. Estimated to be between 15 and 30 meters in size, the asteroid safely passed by Earth on February 6, at a distance of about 184,000 kilometres.

The asteroid 2018 CB, will pass closely by Earth on February 10, at around 4:00 am IST, at a distance of less than one-fifth of that between the Earth to the Moon. The asteroid, which is estimated to be between 15 and 40 meters in size, was also discovered by CSS on February 4.

“Although 2018 CB is quite small, it might well be larger than the asteroid that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, almost exactly five years ago, in 2013,” said Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US.

“Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet – maybe only once or twice a year,” Chodas said.

For all the latest Technology News, download Indian Express App</s>An asteroid discovered last week is due to fly past the earth at 10.30pm this evening.

The rock, which astronomers estimate is between 15 and 40 metres wide, will travel past just 39,000 miles away, which is about one fifth of the distance to the moon.

The asteroid was given the catchy name 2018 CB when it was discovered at the Catalina Sky Survey, a series of Nasa-funded telescopes in Tuscon, Arizon, last Sunday.

This GIF from Nasa shows how close the rock’s trajectory will get to the earth, relative to the moon’s orbit.

Although the asteroid is nothing to worry about, experts say this is a pretty rare occurrence.

“Although 2018 CB is quite small, it might well be larger than the asteroid that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, almost exactly five years ago, in 2013,” said Paul Chodas, manager at the Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet – maybe only once or twice a year.”

The shock wave following a 20-metre wide asteroid hitting the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk injured almost 1,000 people on February 15 2013.

Although 2018 CB could be up to twice the size of that one, this asteroid will be tens of thousands of miles from earth.

An asteroid is a chunk of rock orbiting the sun, left over from the formation of the solar system billions of years ago.</s>A small asteroid will make a relatively close pass to Earth on Friday, but astronomers say we're in no danger.

The asteroid, called 2018 CB, will zip past Earth around 5:30 p.m. ET at a distance of 64,000 kilometres, or about one-fifth the distance from Earth to the moon.

It was discovered by NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey on Feb. 4 along with a second asteroid that measured somewhere between 15 and 30 metres. That one, called 2018 CC, passed by on Tuesday, at a distance of roughly 184,000 kilometres, still within the moon's orbit.

2018 CB isn't a mass-extinction type of asteroid, though it's an interesting one for astronomers.

"Although 2018 CB is quite small, it might well be larger than the asteroid that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, almost exactly five years ago, in 2013," Paul Chodas, manager of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. "Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet — maybe only once or twice a year."
• Why an asteroid (probably) won't wipe us out

On Feb. 15, 2013, an asteroid roughly 17 metres in size lit up the sky over Chelyabinsk breaking up, with a large piece landing in a lake. A powerful air burst echoed across the city, breaking windows and injuring more than 1,000 people.

Astronomers take these opportunities to learn more about asteroids, such as their composition. They're particularly intrigued as these are leftover bits from the formation of our solar system and could tell us about our early origins.

The Catalina Sky Survey is part of an initiative to look for potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) and there are several networks around the world with the same goal.

According to the Center for Near Earth Object Studies, more than 90 per cent of the near-Earth objects bigger than one kilometre have been discovered. The group is now aiming to find those that are more than 140 metres.

While 2018 CB is too small for amateur telescopes, it can be viewed live online with the Virtual Telescope Project.</s>An asteroid recently discovered by Nasa is set to blaze past Earth this week, within one lunar distance of our planet.

The asteroid, called 2018 CB, will pass closely by Earth on Friday at around 17:30 EST (22:30 GMT).

Thankfully, the giant space rock will pass at a distance of about 39,000 miles - less than one-fifth the distance of Earth to the Moon - meaning it is very unlikely to be hazardous.

Nasa estimates that the asteroid is between 15 and 40 metres in size.

Paul Chodas, manager of the Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , said: “Although 2018 CB is quite small, it might well be larger than the asteroid that entered the atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia, almost exactly five years ago, in 2013.

“Asteroids of this size do not often approach this close to our planet - maybe only once or twice a year."

If you want to see the asteroid as it flies past our planet, you’ll be happy to hear you don’t need to get your telescope out.

The Virtual Telescope Project is hosting a live stream of the event from Italy, starting at 15:00 EST (20:00 GMT).
As predicted, asteroid 2018 CB, estimated to be between 15 and 40 metres (50–130 feet) in diameter, makes a fly-by past Earth at a distance of around 64,500 km (40,100 mi). This is the second asteroid to make a fly-by this week.