Giant Telescopes Pair Up to Image Near-Earth Asteroid
NASA scientists using Earth-based radar have produced sharp views of a recently discovered asteroid as it slid silently past our planet. Captured on June 8, 2014, the new views of the object designated "2014 HQ124" are some of the most detailed radar images of a near-Earth asteroid ever obtained. Read more
The 320 metre wide asteroid 2014 HQ124 will make a close pass (3.3 lunar distances, 0.0084 AU), travelling at 14.05 km/second, to the Earth-Moon system on the 8th June 2014 @ 05:56 UT ±00:01.
A newfound asteroid will safely pass Earth on June 8 from a distance of about 777,000 miles (1.25 million kilometers), more than three times farther away than our moon. Designated 2014 HQ124, the asteroid was discovered April 23, 2014, by NASA's NEOWISE mission, a space telescope adapted for scouting the skies for asteroids and comets. Read more
Orbital elements:
2014 HQ124 PHA, Earth MOID = 0.0083 AU
Epoch 2014 May 23.0 TT = JDT 2456800.5 MPC
M 214.20493 (2000.0) P Q
n 1.25506990 Peri. 144.67102 +0.68168021 -0.59623853
a 0.8511853 Node 257.79803 +0.53078540 +0.80190199
e 0.2574648 Incl. 25.71171 +0.50356623 -0.03811587
P 0.79 H 18.6 G 0.15 U 9