Asteroid to pass by Earth's orbit appears to be wearing face mask

NASA has spotted a rather unusual asteroid that is set to fly past Earth next week, although it is unlikely that it will collied with our planet, according to CTV News.

The asteroid is about 1.2 miles (1.9 kilometres) wide and oddly enough, appears to be wearing a face mask based on the images captured by Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

It was first discovered in 1998 and was named 52769 (1998 OR2). It is expected to pass by Earth on April 29, soaring at 19,461 miles per hour and within 3,908,791 miles within the Earth. That gap is still 16 times that of the distance between the moon and the Earth.

NASA said that if it was to collide with the Earth, the asteroid is big enough to cause "global effects."

"The small-scale topographic features such as hills and ridges on one end of asteroid 1998 OR2 are fascinating scientifically," said Anne Virkki, head of planetary radar at Arecibo Observatory, in a statement. "But since we are all thinking about COVID-19, these features make it look like 1998 OR2 remembered to wear a mask."

NASA said it expects the asteroid to fly past Earth at around 5:56 a.m. ET.

The University of Central Florida manages the Arecibo Observatory is a National Science Foundation facility that has been monitoring the asteroid for months on behalf of planetary defence. The observatory is also supported by NASA'S Near-Earth Object Observations Program which began in the mid-90's.

The scientists that work there follow the same social distancing protocols in place for all work places, such as wearing masks and gloves and a reduced staff.

Due to the proximity of the asteroid to Earth, it was classified as potentially hazardous because its larger than 500 feet and travels within 5 million miles of the Earth's orbit.

"The radar measurements allow us to know more precisely where the asteroid will be in the future, including its future close approaches to Earth," said Flaviane Venditti, a research scientist at the observatory, in a statement. "In 2079, asteroid 1998 OR2 will pass Earth about 3.5 times closer than it will this year, so it is important to know its orbit precisely."

It will be the largest asteroid to come close to Earth for the next two months however there have been bigger asteroids to come this close in the past.

The largest being asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3) which past by the Earth's orbit on September 1, 2017. It will pass by the Earth again on September 2, 2057 and it estimated to be somewhere between 2.5-5.5 million miles wide.