(Posted 7 September 2014) Asteroid 2014 RC will safely pass the Earth tomorrow morning at a distance of only 34,000 km at 4:18 am AEST (Monday 8 September) Australian time. Astronomically speaking that is extremely close and shows that the Earth still faces an ongoing threat from being bombarded from outer space.
Asteroid 2014 RC was only discovered a week ago and it was quickly realised that it would pass very close to the Earth. Closest approach will happen high above New Zealand.
If you are keen, have access to a telescope and don’t mind getting up early in the morning (3:15 am AEST is best for Eastern Australia), you could look for it. Keep in mind that 2014 RC is only likely to reach magnitude 11.5 meaning that it will be very faint. Also, because it is coming so close to the Earth, parallax will come into play. Becuase of this you will need a finder chart customised for your location. The Satflare.com site has set up a link here http://www.satflare.com/track.
Good luck and clear skies.
