Asteroid 4179 Toutatis is one of the largest asteroids that cycle close to Earth. Considering that this time it will pass at a distance of 6,9 million kilometers, 18 times greater than the distance of the Moon, it will not pose any danger to our planet. During the closest pass, it will not be visible to the naked eye, but ordinary amateur telescopes will be enough to see this asteroid.
Asteroid 4179 Toutatis is interesting to scientists because the analysis of its composition should allow a better understanding of the early days of the development of the Solar System. Experts could determine the composition of the asteroid based on its rotation.
Toutatis is named after a Celtic god, a tribal protector, and has an unusual shape that resembles a peanut in the shell. It rotates around its longer axis, but also around the center, and passes by the Earth every four years.
Michael Busch and his team from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory took radar images of Toutatis in 2000, 2004 and 2008, on the basis of which they discovered that the spin of the asteroid changes slightly during each pass by the Earth and the Sun under the influence of gravitational forces. force. Analyzes of these changes should reveal the distribution of its mass. According to the available data, it is not uniform, but is denser in some places and less frequent in others.
"The asteroid could have a pretty complicated internal structure," Bush explained.
There are two main scenarios that could explain the unusual properties and appearance of this asteroid. According to one, a smaller body hit it and broke off part of the material. According to the second, it is possible that it was created in the collision of two bodies that came together.
Whenever Toutatis comes close to Earth, doomsayers on the internet start panicking and starting 'what if' discussions. Speculations were particularly pronounced in 2004 when it passed much closer to the Earth – at 'only' four distances to the Moon, so it could be seen with the naked eye. Experts point out that its movement in the distant future, through the following centuries, is difficult to predict, but they claim that there is no chance of it hitting the Earth in this century.
"Thanks to numerous close passes and the attention it has caused among astronomers, the orbit of this asteroid has been determined very precisely so that it is known that it does not pose any danger to the Earth for the next six centuries," explained astronomer Michael Bush.
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