Move over total solar eclipse. It's time to make room for Florence.
Asteroid Florence will pass safely by the Earth on Sept. 1 at a distance of about 4.4 million miles - or roughly 18 times the distance between the Earth and the moon, according to NASA. At 2.7 miles wide, Florence is the largest asteroid tracked by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Scientists are already gearing up for the event.
"While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence will on Sept.1, all of those were estimated to be smaller," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "Florence is the largest asteroid to pass by our planet this close since the NASA program to detect and track near-Earth asteroids began."
Florene's size and proximity means it will be a prime target for scientists wanting to study asteroids up close. NASA will be conducing radar imaging using its Goldstone Solar System Radar in California and the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The results could include surface detail as small as about 30 feet.
Asteroid Florence was discovered by Schelte "Bobby" Bus at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia in March 1981. It is named in honor of Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910, the founder of modern nursing.
The September flyby is the closest the asteroid has come to Earth since 1890 and the closest it will ever be until after 2500. For amateur sky watchers, Florence should be visible via small telescopes as it moves through the constellations Piscis Austrinus, Capricornus, Aquarius and Delphinus.
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