A massive asteroid with its own moon trailing behind will pass by Earth this weekend
An asteroid nearly a mile wide with a moon of its own is expected to pass by Earththis weekend, traveling at 48,000 mph. The space rock, known as asteroid 1999 KW4, was discovered 20 years ago and is so large that it is orbited by a moon.
On Saturday evening, 1999 KW4 will make its closest approach to Earth. It will be visible until May 27. Because it carries a large moon along with it, the asteroid is technically designated as a binary system.
A binary system is defined as two celestial objects close enough to orbit each other, according to NASA.
The Las Cumbres Observatory describes 1999 KW4 as "slightly squashed at the poles and with a mountain ridge around the equator, which runs all the way around the asteroid. This ridge gives the primary an appearance similar to a walnut or a spinning top."
The asteroid was first discovered by the Lincoln Laboratory's Near Earth Asteroid Research survey (LINEAR) in Socorro, New Mexico, according to NASA. The asteroid won't pass this close to earth again until 2036.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Minor Planet Center has classified 1999 KW4 as a "potentially hazardous asteroid" because it will travel relatively close to Earth. Even so, the asteroid will only pass as close as 3.2 million miles from Earth — roughly 13 times the distance between the Earth and the moon.
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1999 KW4小行星將在5月掠過：系近二十年距離地球第二近
據外媒報道，一顆直徑近1英里（1.5千米）的小行星即將造訪地球，並且它還將帶上它的小夥伴。這塊還未被命名的太空岩石Asteroid (66391) 1999 KW4是一個雙星系統，這意味着它由一顆大小行星和一顆圍繞它轉的小衛星組成。
據悉，這顆小行星首次則是在20年前被發現的，現在業餘天文學家和專業天文學家都打算在5月25日準備着它的到來。
儘管其巨大的體積使1999 KW4 獲得了「潛在危險」小行星的稱號，但今年它將以3,219,955英里（5,182,015公里）的安全距離掠過地球。這將是這顆小行星在近二十年來距離地球第二近的一次，也是2036年之前距離地球最近的一次。截止到目前，它也是今年距離我們20個月球距離（4,647,790英里或7,479,894公里）以內的最大天體。
Las Cumbres天文台將該系統中的主要小行星描述成「在兩極輕微擠壓，赤道附近有一個山脊，環繞着小行星運行。」這個山脊給了主要的外觀類似於核桃或旋轉頂部。」
包括位於波多黎各的大型阿雷西博天文台在內的數個大型望遠鏡將在1999 KW4經過時展開觀測以此來獲得更多關於該系統的數據。
據悉，該雙星系統將以每小時48123英里（77446公里）的速度快速運行，這可能能讓業餘觀察者更容易看到它。
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