Asteroid 2007 FF1 LIVE – ‘April Fool’s Day’ space rock makes ‘close approach’ to Earth

What time did the asteroid pass?

Asteroid 2007 FF1 passed Earth on Friday afternoon.

It passed our planet on April 1 at around 4.35pm ET, according to LiveScience.

Asteroid mystery solved, continued

Currently, the theory is that Ryugu originated from debris left by the collision of two larger asteroids, but that doesn’t explain why the asteroid is so high in organic content, Newsweek noted.

New findings published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters suggest Ryugu is, in fact, the remains of a dead or extinguished comet.

The new theory involves the comet losing its ice content in a way that could have ended up with it having the “unique characteristics” it does.

Lead author Miura told Newsweek: “Depending on whether Ryugu was originally an asteroid or a comet, it experienced a very different environment.”

“Asteroids formed in warm regions relatively close to the sun. On the other hand, comets formed in a cooler environment away from the sun.”

“To assume off the top of one’s head that Ryugu was originally an asteroid is to overlook the possibility that Ryugu may have been in a cold environment.”

Asteroid mystery solved?

Researchers may have “solved mysteries surrounding the origins of the spinning top-shaped asteroid Ryugu,” Newsweek reported.

In fact, it may actually be the remnants of a dead comet.

Space mission Hayabusa2 returned samples and images from the space rock Asteroid 162173, also known as Ryugu, in 2020.

It is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Objects Studies.

Data from that mission showed that the asteroid has a “spinning top shape,” and that it is “a loose pile of gravitationally bound rubble” with plentiful organic material.

Asteroid longer than 4 blue whales

Asteroid 2007 FF1 is characterized as being “a minimum of four times the size of a blue whale” by the Jerusalem Post.

Valentine’s Day asteroids

April Fool’s Day isn’t the only holiday this year when an asteroid is making a “close approach” to Earth.

2022 CF3 glided past Earth in the early hours of February 14, according to Mashable.

Asteroids 2020 DF and 2022 CF1 also passed Earth around the same time.

Asteroid 2007 FF1 is one of many

According to Nasa, Asteroid 2007 FF1 is travelling at roughly eight miles per second.

It’s one of a dozen or so asteroids expected to make close approaches this week.

Thankfully, none of the asteroids being tracked by the space agency are thought to pose any danger to Earth.

Asteroid 2007 FF1’s next approach

Asteroid 2007 FF1 will pass past Earth on April 1 at 17.35pm ET, according to The-Sky.org.

The next close approach of 2007 FF1 to our planet won’t happen until August 22, 2035.

April Fool’s Day asteroid details, conclusion

At a distance of around 4.5million miles, or 19.31 lunar distance, the near-Earth object is predicted to pass safely over Earth.

However, for astronomers, this is still a dangerous distance, which is why the asteroid is being continuously monitored.

April Fool’s Day asteroid details, continued

The asteroid, dubbed 2007 FF1, will reach its closest approach to Earth on Friday, April 1.

The enormous asteroid is around 260 meters or 850 feet in size, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

No other asteroid is currently being monitored and is expected to pass nearby in the next two weeks compares to 2007 FF1.

April Fool’s Day asteroid details

NASA is tracking a massive asteroid, which is traveling at an incredible 30,000 miles per hour.

The asteroid, which is more than three times the size of India’s world-famous towering white marble monument, the Taj Mahal, is capable of creating havoc if it collides with an Earth-like planet.

Types of asteroids: M-types

The M-type asteroids (nickel-iron) are made of metal. The compositional variations between asteroids are linked to how distant they originated from the Sun.

After they formed and partially melted, some endured tremendous temperatures, with iron sinking to the center and driving basaltic (volcanic) lava to the surface.

Types of asteroids: S-types

S-type (stony) asteroids are made up of nickel-iron silicate minerals.

Types of asteroids: C-Type

C-Type (chondrite) are the most common asteroids. They are most likely made up of clay and silicate rocks and have a black look. They are among the solar system’s oldest ancient things.

April Fool’s Day

Space experts have said that a “potentially hazardous” asteroid is set to approach the Earth on Friday, April 1.

Astronomers say the closest that the Apollo-class asteroid could get is about 4.6million miles away.

St Patrick’s Day asteroids, continued

A 78 foot asteroid called 2022 EU3 was the last close approach asteroid to shoot past Earth on St Patrick’s Day.

Asteroid 2022 EU3 came within 3.4 million miles of Earth.

The other two asteroids to make the St Paddy’s Day list were called 2022 EM6 and 2022 EU6.

They’re said to be about 200 feet and 183 feet large, respectively.

St Patrick’s Day asteroids

Before Asteroid 2013 BO76 flew by, Nasa was watching five close approach asteroids around St Patrick’s Day.

All of the asteroids made their close approaches to Earth that morning.

Asteroid 2019 PH1 was the largest at 203 feet wide.

The closest approach came from a slightly smaller space rock called 2022 EL6.

Youngest asteroids ever found in Solar System 

Researchers have found a pair of asteroids orbiting the Sun that was formed under 300 years ago.

Details of the Astronomical discovery were published in a report in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The twin asteroids – dubbed 2019 PR2 and 2019 QR6 – are the youngest found in our solar system.

“It’s very exciting to find such a young asteroid pair that was formed only about 300 years ago, which was like this morning – not even yesterday – in astronomical timescales,” astronomer Petr Fatka of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences said.

Asteroid captured in rare shot, continued

Ahead of the relatively close approach, scientists at the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP) captured an image of the asteroid in the night sky.

It was imaged using one of the Italian facility’s largest scopes at a distance of about 7.2million miles from Earth.

“This about 200 meters large asteroid will reach its minimum distance from us on April 1 at 21:35 UTC,” VTP founder Gianluca Masi wrote.

“Of course, there are no risks at all for our planet.”

‘Potentially hazardous’ asteroid captured in rare shot

Astronomers got a rare glimpse of a potentially hazardous asteroid ahead of its scheduled pass of Earth this week.

Asteroid 2007 FF1 is expected to make a close and safe encounter with our planet on April 1, according to space trackers.

The April Fool’s asteroid will pass within 4.6million miles of our planet – which is about roughly 19 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.

‘A pretty elaborate trick’

The Weather Channel India on Twitter shared news of the approaching asteroid with its followers on Wednesday, March 30.

“This #AprilFoolsDay, the cosmos has a pretty elaborate trick in store, with a potentially hazardous #asteroid flying past our planet on April 1!” the account noted.

Bus-sized

Space Reference reported that Asteroid 2007 FF1, which will make a “close approach” to Earth on April Fool’s Day, is “probably between 0.116 to 0.259 kilometers in diameter.”

That makes it “roughly comparable in size to a school bus or smaller.”

Even small asteroids can be dangerous, continued

Around 1,600 people were injured when that asteroid exploded, mostly as a result of broken glass from windows, according to NASA as cited by Newsweek.

The agency’s planetary defense officer Lindley Johnson said it was a “cosmic wake-up call.”

Even small asteroids can be dangerous

In February 2013, an asteroid that NASA previously described as “house-sized,” so relatively small next to Asteroid 2015 DR215, exploded in the skies, Newsweek noted.

It exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk after it entered Earth’s atmosphere at around 40,000 miles per hour, and released a shock wave that obliterated windows over 200 square miles when it exploded.

Saving Earth from asteroids, continued

Nasa said: “DART is the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact.”

The DART craft should hit a small asteroid called Dimorphos in September with the ultimate aim of moving it off course.

Saving Earth from asteroids

Some experts are worried that Earth isn’t yet ready to defend itself from potentially deadly asteroids.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk once sparked concern when he tweeted: “a big rock will hit Earth eventually & we currently have no defense.”

Nasa is looking into having some defense methods set up, however.

It recently launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission.