Take a good look, because we’ll never see this space rock again in our lifetime.
Asteroid 2004 BL86 is set to make its closest approach to Earth on Monday, Jan. 26, at a distance of about 745,000 miles from our planet, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. That’s more than three times the distance between Earth and the moon, so there is no threat to all us little Earthlings.
NASA also said the asteroid is about a third of a mile large, based on brightness estimates. A space rock of that size or bigger won’t pass near Earth again until 2027, when asteroid 1999 AN10 is expected to make an appearance.
(MORE: You Won't Believe What They Caught on Radar)
Asteroid 2004 BL86, which was first spotted by telescope on Jan. 30, 2004, at the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research survey in White Sands, New Mexico, won’t make another pass near Earth for at least the next 200 years, NASA said.
“At present, we know almost nothing about the asteroid, so there are bound to be surprises,” said Lance Benner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist, in the NASA release.
Amateur astronomers should be able to see this asteroid flyby, CNET.com says. Small telescopes or strong binoculars will be needed to spot the space rock as it hurtles past Earth. If cold weather or cloudy conditions prevent you from seeing the asteroid, The Virtual Telescope Project will offer a live-stream of the event on its website.
MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Stunning Images of Earth from Space
