Close-up of asteroids near Earth

Scientists used NASA's giant radio telescope to capture the radar image of a 1.6-kilometer-wide asteroid hovering near the Earth.

The near-Earth asteroid 2007 PA8 has caught the eye of Deep Space Network, 70m wide, in Goldstone, California (USA), according to Space.com, leading a press release from the Dynamics Laboratory. NASA in Pasadena.

2007 PA8 in view of radio telescopes - (Photo: NASA)

Close-up shots show that the asteroid has an elongated appearance, with irregular edges, and even bumps on the surface. It turns quite slowly, it takes 3 to 4 hours to finish a spin.

On November 5, 2007 PA8 came close to Earth with a distance of 6.4 million km, or 17 times the distance of the globe - the moon.

This is also the closest approach to Earth of 2007 PA8 in at least 200 years, according to NASA.

NASA's Near-Earth Observation Program specializes in scanning celestial bodies such as 2007 PA8 and follows their trajectories to determine whether they are potentially harmful to our planet.