Asteroid the size of Golden Gate Bridge to make 'close encounter' with Earth on March 21

The largest asteroid, which is the same as the size of the Golden Gate Bridge, predicted to pass by planet Earth in 2021 on March 21. This will provide the astronomers with a 'rare opportunity' to get a good look at the asteroid. Officially known as 2001 FO32, the asteroid will make its closest approach at a distance of about 1.25 million miles. According to NASA, there is no threat of a collision with earth now or for various centuries. 

Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies, said, “We know the orbital path of 2001 FO32 around the Sun very accurately, since it was discovered 20 years ago and has been tracked ever since. He added, “There is no chance the asteroid will get any closer to Earth than 1.25 million miles”. 

“Observations dating back 20 years revealed that about 15% of near-Earth asteroids comparable in size to 2001 FO32 have a small moon,” said Lance Benner, principal scientist at JPL. “Currently little is known about this object, so the very close encounter provides an outstanding opportunity to learn a great deal about this asteroid.”

“Potentially hazardous asteroid”

2001 FO32 has been designated a “potentially hazardous asteroid” because the distance is close in astronomical terms. CNEOS computes high-precision orbits for near-Earth objects (NEOs) in support of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. They usually rely on telescopes and ground-based radar to help characterize every NEO’s orbit to improve long-term hazard assessments. The discovery of Asteroid 2001 F032 was made by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program in Socorro, New Mexico in March 2001. The estimations made at that time about this Asteroid was that it is around 3,000 feet (1 kilometre) wide.

In the most recent observations made by NEOWISE, the Asteroid 2001 F032 was observed using infrared wavelengths and it is estimated to be less than 1 kilometre in diameter (between 1,300 to 2,230 feet wide). This Asteroid is estimated to pass by our planet Earth in March 2021. Asteroid 2001 F032 is going to be the largest and also one of the fastest asteroids that will come this close to Earth in 2021.