460-foot-long Christmas asteroid just made a terrifying approach to Earth

A mysterious and massive 460-foot-wide Christmas asteroid just flew past Earth from terrifying close distances. On December 15, Asteroid 2015 RN35, first discovered on September 9, 2015 and renamed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to the Christmas asteroid is believed to have a diameter of giant between 196 and 460 feet. The most worrisome part is that the asteroid came so close that it sped past Earth at a distance of just 426,000 miles. This distance is only slightly farther from the Moon than the Earth. In fact, it’s less than twice the distance between the moon and Earth. According to NASA’s CNEOS data, this asteroid is moving at a breakneck speed of 21276 km/h.

“Did anyone else hear the sleigh bells? Amazing video of asteroid #ESAChristmas taken by @Rueffio as it passed South Australia just hours after #CloseApproach! Keep watching #Astronomy Twitter!” ESA’s activity took to Twitter to share information. Just like many other sky watchers, you can also spot this huge mass small planet in the sky. If you think you missed your chance, it’s not true! The best part is that you can capture this Christmas asteroid as it moves away Earth until December 19. ESA has shared how to detect this mysterious asteroid.

How to detect the Christmas asteroid

The ESA announced that skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere will get the best view when the asteroid approaches close. However, Europe will also have a chance in the following days until around December 19. You should note that between December 15 and 17, asteroid 2015 RN35 will have a stellar magnitude. visually less than 14 equates to Pluto. For a better view, you will need a Telescope, 30 cm and larger, to see the Christmas asteroid.

You can use the ESA Asteroid Toolkit to help plan your observations, as well as visualize the orbits of individuals and groups of near-Earth asteroids, and even any Method close approach. Access ESA’s Near-Earth Object Toolkit here.