A massive asteroid, visible to the naked eye, is set to pass near Earth this week, sparking excitement among skywatchers everywhere
New York: So, there’s this asteroid, right? It’s called (887) Alinda, and it’s pretty huge—about 4.2 kilometers wide, which is bigger than Manhattan! It’s zooming past Earth this week, coming within 7.6 million miles of us. You can even see it without a telescope!
But don’t worry, it’s not a threat. Alinda is classified as a “Near Earth Asteroid,” but it’s not on a crash course with our planet. According to the folks at Virtual Telescope, it should be at its brightest on Sunday, so keep your eyes peeled!
They mentioned that out of all the asteroids coming close to Earth, Alinda is one of the five largest we’ll see until 2200. That’s pretty wild, right? Just a little cosmic visitor making its way through our neighborhood!
Oh, and just for fun, Manhattan is about 3.7 kilometers wide at its widest point. So, yeah, this asteroid is a big deal!
