Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (462959) 2011 DU close encounter: an image – 19 Apr. 2025.
We imaged again the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (462959) 2011 DU, next 25 Apr. 2025 safely coming as close as 4.9 millions of km from us, 12.8 times the average lunar distance. Here we present our last image.
Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (462959) 2011 DU: 19 Apr. 2025.
The image above comes from a single 120-second exposure, remotely taken with the Celestron C14+Paramount ME+SBIG ST-10XME robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project. The telescope tracked the apparent motion of the asteroid, so it looks like a sharp dot of light, while stars show as short trails.
At the imaging time, asteroid (462959) 2011 DU was at about 6.8 million of km from us and safely approaching.
This 160 – 360 meters large asteroid will reach its minimum distance (about 4.9 millions of km, 12.8 times the average lunar distance) from us on 25 Apr. 2025, at 15:45 UTC (source: Nasa/JPL). Of course, there are no risks at all for our planet.
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