The near-Earth asteroid “2020 WU5” is about to pass by the Earth and cross the Earth’s orbit on the 13th of this month, and is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid, and the website of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has published details of the small star.
According to foreign media reports, the Apollo-type asteroid “2020 WU5” was captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope on November 29, 2020, and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) included it in its electronic notification on December 4 of the same year. According to NASA’s calculations, its diameter is between 500 meters and 1.1 kilometers, and its trajectory has passed through the constellations of Funao, Kirin, and Canis Minor, and is about to travel from Gemini to the constellation of Mio.
It is understood that “2020 WU5” asteroid brightness of 12.9 magnitude, angular velocity of 33.4 arc seconds per minute, from 13 to 14 this month to reach the closest distance with the Earth, to 0.05410 astronomical units (AU) across the Earth’s orbit. 1 astronomical unit is equal to 149.5 billion 97.87 million 0700 meters. Metric feet, therefore, the closest distance between the asteroid and the Earth is expected to be 8 billion 9324 million 4804.87 meters, or about 809 million 4244 kilometers.
The mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are good areas for observing “2020 WU5”, which can be seen through telescopes with an aperture of 200 mm or more. Although the closest distance between “2020 WU5” and Earth is still quite distant, it is still classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid.
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