Fly-by of Asteroid 2004BL86 Tomorrow

You may have seen the headlines in the past week about Asteroid 2004 BL86, which will pass by our planet in less than 24 hours. Speeding by at almost 35,000 miles per hour, it will pass Earth at a distance of just 745,000 miles (about three times the distance from here to the Moon). This space rock measures about ⅓ of a mile (0.5 kilometers) across. You might be able to catch a glimpse of 2004 BL86 with your home telescope or even a pair of good binoculars.

The Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees was quoted in The Telegraph: “Although this particular asteroid won’t get so close again for 200 years, others like it will get equally close much sooner.” As stated so clearly in this article in Forbes, “Forget The Big Asteroid Buzzing Earth; Worry About What We Can’t See,” we must be determined to find as many Near-Earth Asteroids as possible”.

Posted in News

Visit Us

The Spaceguard Centre is a working observatory, and the main source of information
about near Earth objects in the UK.

We are open Wednesday to Sunday, so why not Visit Us?

Contact Us

The Spaceguard Centre,
Llanshay Lane,
Knighton, Powys,
LD7 1LW. United Kingdom.

Tel: 01547 520247 mail@spaceguardcentre.com