When And Where To See The Big ‘City Killer’ Asteroid Called ‘Dizzy’ Whizz Close To Earth This Weekend
Asteroid 2023 DZ2, nicknamed “Dizzy,” will safely cruise past Earth on Saturday, March 25 at 17,000 … [+]
Astronomers have spotted a large asteroid destined to whizz unusually close to Earth. First noticed just three weeks ago, asteroid 2023 DZ2—and already nicknamed “Dizzy”—will safely cruise past Earth on Saturday, March 25 at 17,000 mph.
How close will the ‘Dizzy’ asteroid get to Earth?
While most asteroids spotted tend to get no closer than the orbit of the Moon, “Dizzy” is going to come within less than half the distance from the Earth to the Moon. At its closest point at 19:50 UTC (15:50 EDT) on March 25 it will get to within 109,000 miles/175,000 kilometers.
Will the ‘Dizzy’ asteroid collide with Earth?
“Dizzy” was originally thought to be on a collision course with Earth during a future close pass in 2026, but refined orbital calculations have since ruled this out. “You may have seen news of this asteroid online in recent davs,” said Richard Moissi, Head of the European Space Agency’s Planetary Defence Office. “There is no chance of this “city killer” striking Earth, but its close approach offers a great opportunity for observations.”
Is the ‘Dizzy’ asteroid a ‘city killer?’
To be termed a “city killer” as asteroid has to be in the range of around 165-460 feet/50-140 meters in diameter. “Dizzy” is thought to measure between 130-330 feet/40-100 meters miles in diameter.
Near-Earth Asteroid 2023 DZ2 on Mar. 22, 2023 as captured by Gianluca Masi at the Virtual Telescope … [+]
Asteroids vary in size, from 33 feet/10 meters to the largest known asteroid, Vesta, which has a diameter of 329 miles/530 kilometers and is the brightest asteroid visible from Earth, according to NASA.
How, and where to see the ‘Dizzy’ asteroid
Technically, you could use a large telescope to get a close-up of “Dizzy”, but by far the easiest way is watch live streams from robotic telescopes.
- The Virtual Telescope Project will stage an online observation of the asteroid’s close pass starting at 23:30 UTC (19:30 EDT) on March 25. It will livestream images of 2023 DZ2 through a 17-inch robotic telescope in Ceccano, Italy.
- Slooh’s online telescopes will broadcast a live public Star Party on Friday at 20:00 EDT with live telescope views of “Dizzy” as it approaches Earth.
When was the ‘Dizzy’ asteroid first discovered?
Astronomers first detected 2023 DZ2 on February 27, 2023 using the 100-inch Isaac Newton Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma in the Canary Islands
Astronomers first detected 2023 DZ2 on February 27, 2023 using the 100-inch Isaac Newton Telescope … [+]
Is NASA tracking the ‘Dizzy’ asteroid?
2023 DZ2 features on NASA’s regularly updated “Asteroid Watch Dashboard,” which hosts a constantly updated list of incoming asteroids that are predicted to get within 4.6 million miles/7.5 million kilometers of Earth. That’s 19.5 times the distance to the Moon.
What kind of asteroid is 2023 DZ2?
“Dizzy” is an Apollo-class asteroid, which means its orbit crosses the path of Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Apollo asteroids are called “near-Earth objects” (NEOs) and can be classed as “potentially hazardous,” but that doesn’t mean they will strike Earth—just that they could at some point in the future.
What is an asteroid?
Asteroids are debris from the formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Most of them exist within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
