Look up: Half-mile-wide asteroid to pass Earth on Tuesday

A giant asteroid, measuring more than half a mile wide, will pass by the Earth on Tuesday.

The asteroid, named 7482 (1994 PC1) is being tracked by NASA.

In Cayman, local astronomers should be able to view the asteroid (weather and cloud coverage permitting) with telescopes or cameras, according to Tiyen Miller of the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society.

Although considered – in astronomical terms – to be passing relatively close to the Earth, the asteroid will, at its closest point, be 1.2 million miles away from our planet; five times further away than the moon.

NASA, in a Twitter post, said the asteroid poses no threat to Earth, that it is “very well known and has been studied for decades by our #PlanetaryDefense experts”.

The asteroid was discovered by Robert McNaught at an observatory in Australia in 1994.

Miller estimates that the best time to see it from Cayman should be between 7pm and 7:30pm.

“There’s a reasonably good chance of being able to see it or at least detect where it is if you have a decent camera with a star trail mode or a long exposure mode,” he said. “After sunset, once it gets dark, point your camera towards the west, very high in the sky, towards the constellation of Pisces. And if you can take an exposure for about a minute or so, you’ll see all the stars will leave a little trail behind them as the Earth turns under the sky.

“However, one of those little trails will be going in a different direction, and that is the asteroid as it’s moving.”

He added that the asteroid will not move quickly, like the International Space Station which can regularly be seen from Earth, so it’s likely that those viewing it through telescopes or cameras will be able to detect its motion.

Miller reminded those for whom the asteroid and other celestial phenomena pique an interest, of an upcoming continuing education course on astronomy at the University College of the Cayman Islands. For more information on these classes and upcoming events, visit the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society Facebook page.