A team from the observatory publish their findings ahead of Asteroid Day, a U.N. designation aimed at increasing awareness about the threats some asteroids pose.
When asteroid 2019 OK suddenly appeared barreling toward Earth on July 25, 2019, Luisa Fernanda Zambrano-Marin and the team at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico jumped into action.
After getting an alert, the radar scientists zoned in on the asteroid, which was coming from Earth’s blind spot — solar opposition. Zambrano-Marin and the team had 30 minutes to get as many radar readings as they could. It was traveling so fast, that’s all the time she’d have it in Arecibo’s sights. UCF manages the Arecibo Observatory for the U.S. National Science Foundation under a cooperative agreement.
The asteroid made headline news because it appeared to come out of nowhere and was traveling fast.
Read more at University of Central Florida
Photo Credit: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) via Wikimedia Commons
