At the end of June 2024, asteroid 415029 (2011 UL21) will approach our planet. It is one of the largest asteroids among potentially hazardous objects. The video shows the asteroid orbit and allows you to see where to look for it in the sky during the period of approach to the Earth.
Based on the brightness of the object, the size of the asteroid can be estimated at 2.5 km. If the asteroid surface is dark, then it may turn out to be even larger, up to 4 km. Currently, the distance between the nearest points of the asteroid’s orbit and the Earth’s orbit is about 2.5 million km and is safe.
On June 27, 2024, at 20:16 UTC, asteroid 415029 (2011 UL21) will pass 6.6 million km from the Earth. This is about 17 times the distance from our planet to the Moon. At the minimum distance from the Earth, the asteroid will be observed on the border of the constellations Corvus and Hydra in a fairly powerful telescope. It will reach its greatest brightness (11.68 apparent magnitude) when crossing the constellation Virgo on the night of June 28-29 (UTC).
For such a large asteroid, an approach with Earth is considered a rare event. An asteroid of this size passes by at a similar distance from the Earth about once a decade. This assessment is provided on the website of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA). This approach will make it possible to clarify the size of asteroid 415029 (2011 UL21) and its orbit in order to assess the level of threat to our planet in the future.
Modeling and rendering were performed by author of this publication using own software. The calculations took into account the mutual influence of the Sun, all the planets of the Solar System, the Moon and the asteroid on each other. Relativistic effects were also taken into account in the calculation.
The track Liquid Tension by Mr Smith sounds in this video. This track was not changed. Attribution 4.0 International license.
