Binary asteroid to glide past Earth this week

New Delhi: In a month packed with celestial activity, sky gazers in India can watch out for a binary asteroid close to Earth this week – albeit with the help of a telescope.

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Asteroid 2008 BT18 is gliding past Earth and astronomers have just discovered that it is a binary system.

"Radar images of the close-approaching space rock reveal two components, a primary and a secondary asteroid. Among all the near-Earth asteroids only a handful come this close," Nehru Planetarium director N Rathnashree told IANS.

A binary asteroid is a system of two asteroids, where both bodies are roughly of the same size.

"We in India will require a high resolution telescope to see the binary asteroid. While countries in southern hemisphere like Australia, South America, parts of Africa and Antarctica would be able to have a clear image," Rathnashree said.

BT18 makes its closest approach to Earth (1.4 to 2 million km) during the week and will flit through Canis Major – a constellation – heading south, glowing like a 13th magnitude star, she said.

Scientists are always keen to study the make-up and dynamics of these systems as it helps them figure out how to deflect binaries on a collision course with Earth.

This celestial event will be followed by a solar eclipse on August 1.

"The solar eclipse will be seen partially in India, but there is likely to be considerable excitement arising from the fact that a large fraction of the eclipse would be seen from the northern parts of the country," Rathnashree said.

On July 9, Jupiter came closest to Earth and appeared at its brightest.