Asteroid 2014 HO132 passed the Earth at a distance of 824 300 km (2.14 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon) at about 8.10 am GMT on Monday 5 May 2014. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, though if it had it would have presented little threat. 2014 HO132 has an estimated equivalent diameter of 14-43 m (which is to say that a spherical object with the same volume would have a diameter of 14-43 m), and an object of this size would be expected to break up in the Earth's atmosphere between 26 and 10 km above the planet's surface, with only fragmentary material reaching the ground.
Image of 2014 HO132 captured by Dennis Simmons of Brisbane, Australia on 3 May 2014. The asteroid is the elongate object, caught in a long exposure image, the points are stars. Spaceweather.
2014 HO132 was discovered on 28 April 2014 (nine days before its closest approach to the Earth) by the University of Hawaii's PANSTARRS telescope on Mount Haleakala. The designation 2014 HO132 implies that it was the 3315th asteroid (asteroid O132) discovered in the second half of April 2014 (period 2014 H).
2014 HO132 has an 907 day orbital period and an eccentric orbit that takes it from 0.97 AU from the Sun (i.e. 97% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun) to 2.70 AU from the Sun (i.e. 270% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, considerably more than distance at which the planet Mars orbits the Sun). It is therefore classed as an Apollo Group Asteroid (an asteroid that is on average further from the Sun than the Earth, but which does get closer).
The calculated orbit of 2014 HO132. JPL Small Body Database Browser.
See also...
Asteroid 2014 JY30 passed by the Earth at a distance of 3 275 000 km (a little over 8.5 times the average distance between the Earth and...
Asteroid 2014 GY48 passed by the Earth at a distance of 17 520 000 km (over 45 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon and nearly 12% of the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun), slightly...
Asteroid 2014 HL129 passes the Earth.Asteroid 2014 HL129 passed by the Earth at a distance of about 292 300 km (roughly 76% of the average distance between the Earth and...
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