Biggest Asteroid of the Year Flew By This Afternoon

Good news - Earth did not get hit by an asteroid this weekend! This is expected to be the biggest asteroid to pass near Earth this year, measuring about 0.6 miles in diameter. This was also a noteworthy pass because Asteroid 2001 FO32 is expected to be one of the fastest fly byes the Earth has seen. According to EarthSky, the asteroid traveling roughly 21 miles per second relative to the Earth!

Asteroid 2001 FO32 safely passed Earth shortly after Noon Eastern today, but astronomers did see something a little different as it passed by. The asteroid looked a little brighter to observers than was initially expected. An update from EarthSky said, "a comparison with background stars suggest the space rock was at closest approach as bright as a 9 to 9.5 magnitude star, instead of the expected 11 magnitude." Why would an asteroid look brighter? Could it have been closer? Passed at a time with more sunlight to reflect? Has the composition of the asteroid changed? We should learn more about it in the coming weeks and months as scientists have a chance to study the observations that were made today.

ICYMI Rick DeLuca blogged about this asteroid a couple weeks ago to let you know it was coming. If you're curious about how rare an asteroid this size is, the next time Asteroid 2001 FO32 will make an appearance, or other trivia, you can click the link below to read his post!