to update! Image of asteroid 2013 NK4
NASA astronomers were able to obtain radar images of the large asteroid that safely passed Earth on Monday, April 15, 2024. They took an image of the asteroid – called 2013 NK4 – using the Goldstone radar in California on April 13. NASA said:
Narrow radar echoes likely demonstrate that 2013 NK4 is rotating very slowly, and that the shape is bifurcated.
These observations suggest that asteroid 2013 NK4 may be a binary contact. This means that it consists of two objects or asteroids that are attracted towards each other until they touch, resulting in this elongated shape. If the bilobed asteroid looks familiar to you, it’s because we’ve seen space rocks like this before. For example, there is 4769 Castalia, which was discovered in 1989. It is larger at 1.4 km (0.87 mi) in diameter and is also classified as a potentially dangerous asteroid. Another example is Arrokoth, which was visited by the New Horizons mission. Arrokoth looks a bit like a snowman and is located in the Kuiper Belt.
A large asteroid larger than Apophis
Asteroid 2013 NK4 is about 2,000 feet (610 meters) in diameter. This makes it twice as large as Apophis, the so-called doomsday asteroid that will pass near Earth’s satellites in 2029. But 2013 NK4 passed us at a much greater distance. It was more than 8 times the distance of the Moon at our closest location. What’s so amazing about that? People using telescopes will be able to watch it fly close to Earth!
The closest approach of asteroid 2013 NK4 occurred on Monday 15 April 2024, at 14:51 UTC. However, due to its position in the sky, it will be easier to see through a telescope on the nights of April 16 and 17. See search charts below.
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Asteroid orbit
Because the asteroid occasionally passes close to Earth and is a fairly large space rock, 2013 NK4 carries the scary designation of a potentially dangerous asteroid. However, we have known about asteroid 2013 NK4 since 2013 (hence naming the year after it), and it has a well-defined orbit. There was no danger to the ground while it was flying.
2013 NK4 orbits the Sun every 378 days. But its orbit is slightly more elliptical than ours. Its orbit extends beyond Mars and then dips between the orbits of Venus and Mercury. The asteroid passed by our planet at a speed of 36,909 miles per hour (59,400 kilometers per hour), or 10.2 miles per second (16.5 kilometers per second), relative to Earth.
Use the telescope to see the large asteroid
The use of “GoTo” or computerized telescopes makes observing the asteroid easier than ever before. You will be able to see the asteroid in the eyepiece of a telescope or monitor as a slowly moving point of light in front of the background stars.
NASA will study NK4
According to NASA and JPL, astronomers will study the space rock using the 230-foot (70-meter) DSS-14 Goldstone radar antenna in California from April 13-19. (See image above from April 13.) Also, on April 14, observations of this object are scheduled from Canberra, Australia, using NASA’s 34-meter (112-foot) DSS-35 dish antenna.
Scientists expect to obtain highly detailed delay Doppler images, which should show the shape of the asteroid and perhaps allow them to better refine the size of the space rock.
A large asteroid passes by Earth! EarthSky’s Deborah Baird has created a 1-minute video summary for you.
Bottom line: A large asteroid — 2013 NK4, which spans about 2,000 feet across — safely passed Earth on April 15, 2024. It will be visible with small telescopes on April 16 and 17. And check out the image from Goldstone Radar in California from April 13. It shows a bilobed body.[/caption]
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