Binary Asteroid to Fly by Earth this Weekend
24 May 2001
(Source: Spaceweather.com)
http://www.spaceweather.com
Late Friday, May 25th, the near-Earth asteroid 1999 KW4 will fly by Earth 13 times farther from our planet than the Moon. The space rock will be brighter than 11th magnitude for much of the time between now and May 28th, making it an easy target for amateur astronomers with mid-sized telescopes and CCD cameras. Yesterday, radar astronomers using NASA's Goldstone Planetary Radar to monitor the approaching asteroid announced that 1999 KW4 is a binary system. Visit spaceweather.com for more information and (possibly) images of the asteroid as it passes our planet.