Visual observation of the asteroid 1997NC1

Last night, too, I took a look at 1997NC1, the asteroid which, for the first time in over a century, has come so close to Earth that it is even visible to the naked eye.

It’s always amazing to be able to see these cosmic rocks moving with your own eyes. And indeed, something like this happens rarely: it won’t come this close again for over a century.

With the many little background stars of the Milky Way forming its backdrop, it took just a FEW tens of SECONDS to clearly perceive its movement relative to them: like an obstacle course, the faint dot drew closer to and overtook the stars along its apparent path, all destined to eat its dust, hehe

To emphasise the movement, I tracked it for about an hour, even at 216x magnification, noticing that when it came very close to some stars brighter than itself, it became harder to make out.

Over the next few evenings, it will be faster and brighter.

Dobson Sky-Watcher Stargate telescope and Huawei p30 pro