The National Observatory of Athens monitors the flyby of asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1)

The Institute of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing (IAASARS) of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) successfully observed the flyby of asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) with the 1.2m Kryoneri telescope.

As shown in the video, on 18/01/2022 (time 20:30 UTC or 18:30 Greek time), Dr. A. Liakos, a postdoctoral researcher of IAASARS, observed the asteroid, which in the video appears to be fixed at the center of the image, while the stars in the background are moving. The asteroid passed relatively “close” to Earth, at a distance of 1.93 million kilometers, or 5.15 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

The asteroid had an apparent magnitude of 10.17, a diameter of 1052 meters, moves at a speed of 70,415 km per hour (19.56 km / s) and its period of rotation around the Sun is 572 days. It belongs to the category of potentially hazardous asteroids due to its dimensions and relatively close flybys to Earth.

Accurate targeting and observation of an object moving at such a high speed is a significant success, demonstrating the ability and high degree of readiness of IAASARS and NOA to respond to issues related to safety in space (Space Situational Awareness or SSA).