Asteroid 2012 DA14 Will Flyby on February 15, 2013

Diagram of 2012 DA14 passing the Earth on 15 February 2013 — Path of 2012 DA14 passing the Earth on 15 February 2013

The small near-Earth asteroid named 2012 DA14 discovered on February 23, 2012, by the OAM Observatory, La Sagra in Spain with an estimated diameter of about 45 meters (about half the size of a football field) weighing about 130,000 metric tons mass probably made of stone in contrast to metal or ice is now hurtling towards the earth. It will pass within about 3.5 Earth radii of the Earth’s surface inside the geosynchronous satellite ring, located about 35,800 kilometers above the equator.

Tomorrow, February 15, 2013, when it passes within 17,200 miles (28,000 kilometers) of Earth, it will not be visible to the naked eye, but will be within range of small telescopes and solidly mounted binoculars, used by experienced observers who have access to appropriate star charts. Here is a note from NASA about the asteroid’s visibility:

On [February 15, 2013], the asteroid will travel rapidly from the southern evening sky into the northern morning sky with its closest Earth approach occurring about 19:26 UTC when it will achieve a magnitude of less than seven, which is somewhat fainter than naked eye visibility. About 4 minutes after its Earth close approach, there is a good chance it will pass into the Earth’s shadow for about 18 minutes or so before reappearing from the eclipse. When traveling rapidly into the northern morning sky, 2012 DA14 will quickly fade in brightness.

Astronomical observatories with their large telescopes would record images of the asteroid, and some observatories will be broadcasting them live online.

Slooh Space Camera will cover the asteroid’s near-approach on Friday, February 15, Slooh to cover live from the Canary Islands with the broadcast team, with several live shows free to the public starting at 6 p.m. PST / 9 p.m. EST / 02:00 UTC (2/16), accompanied by real-time discussions with Slooh Space Camera’s Paul Cox, astronomer and author Bob Berman, and Prescott Observatory manager Matt Francis. Viewers can watch live on their PC or iOS/Android mobile device.

Clay Center Observatory will be offering real-time high-definition video, from 22:00 UTC (6 p.m. EST) February 15 until 8:00 UTC (4 a.m. EST) on February 16. The video feed can be freely accessed worldwide via Clay Center Observatory’s Ustream channel. The observatory has also set up a countdown clock to show how much time remains until the tracking begins.

Bareket Observatory in Israel will be providing a free live webcast of the close approach of asteroid 2012 DA14 using a remote telescope coupled with a cooled CCD camera on February 15 from 21:00 – 22:30 local time (19:00 – 20:30 UTC, or 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. CST).

Virtual Telescope Project, which calls itself “the most active facility in the world in astronomical science and education,” will also be following 2012 DA14 on February 15, 2013.

Will anything happen when asteroid 2012 DA14 comes close to Earth? Nothing. According to Paul Chodas, Jon Giorgini and Don Yeomans of NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office the asteroid will not impact the Earth on February 15, 2013.

The asteroid will have no effect on the tides. It will not cause volcanoes to erupt. It will not trigger earthquakes and tsunamis. Though the asteroid will just hurtle closely past Earth only 17,000 miles away – within the orbits of geosynchronous satellites, most of us will not see it, and we will not be aware of it at all.