Biggest asteroid of 2022 captured near Earth in amazing photo by Virtual Telescope

On May 27, Earth saw the asteroid (7335)1989 JA make its closest approach to Earth. The space rock was spotted by astronomers across the world and the spectacular visuals of the flyby have now made its way to the public. Following the flyby, the Virtual Telescope, which provides real-time coverage of the celestial phenomenon, has shared a short clip wherein the asteroid is seen cruising through the night sky. 

Earth hosts an asteroid bigger than Burj Khalifa

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA's) Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) had labelled the asteroid "potentially hazardous" as it came as close as four million kilometres from our planet and measured 1.8 kilometers in size. The asteroid 1989 JA was bigger than the world's tallest building Burj Khalifa and cruised at a staggering speed of 76,000 kilometres per hour. According to astronomers, it belongs to the Apollo class of asteroids, the space rocks which cross the orbit of Earth. Scientists have estimated that the asteroid will make its next closest approach on June 23, 2055.

This time, however, the space rock made a safe flyby as it was about ten times the distance between the Moon and the Earth. Notably, the asteroid 1989 JA was the biggest asteroid to have come this close to our planet this year. The flyby was aired live by the Virtual Telescope project which can be viewed in the video below. 

Prior to the asteroid's flyby, the Virtual Telescope Project, which was founded by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi in 2006, shared a number of photos as the space rock made its way to our planet. The image below was taken by astronomers when the 1989 JA was at about 4.5 million km from the Earth. On the other hand, the second image was taken when the space rock was about 10.7 million kilometres from Earth, according to Masi. Currently, this asteroid is one of the 29,000 space rocks which is being constantly monitored by scientists.