WATCH ASTEROID APOPHIS FLYBY TODAY ONLINE
Hey Space Placers! Read all about today's flyby of the asteroid Apophis which is of extreme interest to astronomers and planetary defense organizations due to its close approaches to our planet. The Virtual Telescope Project, based in Rome, Italy, captured asteroid (99942) Apophis on March 2, 2021. The asteroid shows as a dot – while the stars around it show as streaks – because the telescope was tracking the asteroid’s motion. It is moving through space with respect to Earth at 4.658 km/sec (2.894 miles/sec). Image via Virtual Telescope and EarthSky.org . Today it will flyby at a comfortable distance and you can watch it online at 7 PM EST. Depending on weather I might try to image Apophis myself. Sky Guy in VA