Asteroid

graphic features such as hills and ridges on one end of asteroid 1998 OR2 are fascinating scientifically,” said Anne Virkki, head of Planetary Radar at the observatory. “But since we are all thinking about COVID-19, these features make it look like 1998 OR2 remembered to wear a mask.”

The asteroid, which orbits the sun every three years, is on a path to zoom harmlessly by Earth on Wednesday. It will come within 3.9 million miles of our planet. That’s close in astronomical terms, but not dangerously close. For comparison, the moon is about 238,900 miles away.

Scientists working with NASA and other organizations monitor large asteroids. A large one the size of 1998 OR2 could kill millions of people if it were to ever directly hit Earth.

An asteroid estimated at between 7 and 50 miles wide hit Earth 66 million years ago, in present-day Yucatán, Mexico, and is believed to have wiped out dinosaurs.

This asteroid, which was discovered by astronomers in Hawaii in 1998, is expected to be the largest asteroid to fly by Earth this year.

It orbits the sun every three years and eight months.

The hulking rock poses no immediate threat. The next time it will fly dangerously close to Earth is estimated to be April 16, 2079, when it will speed within about 1 million miles of Earth.

NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies tracks the paths of thousands of asteroids. If a large one ever appeared to be on a collision course with Earth, scientists likely would send a spacecraft of some type to deflect it. NASA is set to launch a test mission in July 2021 to send a space probe to crash into an asteroid about 500 feet wide a year later, in September 2022. The mission, called DART — for Double Asteroid Redirection Test — will test how much an asteroid can be deflected to help design future missions that may be needed to protect Earth from an impact.

The researchers at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which is managed by the University of Central Florida, are following the current asteroid fly-by closely to learn more.

“Although this asteroid is not projected to impact Earth, it is important to understand the characteristics of these types of objects to improve impact-risk mitigation technologies,” said Flaviane Venditti, a research scientist at the observatory.

And amid the coronavirus pandemic, they are all wearing masks.