Why NASA is keeping a close eye on asteroid coming into earth’s orbit

There's a lot to learn from an asteroid that will be entering earth’s orbit next week, though it won't be visible to the naked eye for anybody in Kamloops and the Okanagan, who will be facing the wrong direction upon its closest pass.

Even if Nereus 4660 – the name of the asteroid – were front and centre in the skies of Western Canada, it would still be difficult to see without a telescope, according to Dr. Chris Gainor from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

For somebody on the other side of the planet, “it may visible all night if you had the right equipment to see it, though will be easier to see as it reaches its closest point,” he said.

But the asteroid doesn’t have to be easy to see to grab NASA’s attention, which has already begun observing and taking pictures of Nereus. The space agency says it will be closest to earth on Dec. 11, and that it will be a strong radar target for several weeks.

Since Nereus enters earth’s orbit regularly and has a diameter of 330 metres, it is on the shortlist for asteroids worth exploring with spacecraft. It was initially selected by Japan to be visited by the Hayabusa spacecraft and become the first asteroid to have samples collected and returned to earth, but that ended up happening on another asteroid due to a scheduling delay.

Still, NASA considers this close encounter as an important opportunity to learn more about Nereus, as it “has been considered as a possible spacecraft target for many years,” according to the space agency’s observations planning.

The telescopes used by NASA are expected to produce images “several times finer” than the best ones taken in 2002, when Nereus came even closer to earth. Surface features that were not visible through the instruments of 2002 are likely to be seen this time around.

The asteroid will come as close as 3.9 million kilometres from earth when it passes by on Dec. 11. It will be much closer in 2060 when it will be less than 1.2 million kilometres from the planet.

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