Mystery asteroid 2015 RN35 to pass Earth on December 15; all you need to know

Space lovers can look forward to witnessing a mystery asteroid this week, as it passes the Earth. The middle-sized asteroid, known as 2015 RN35, which is 60-140 metres in diameter, is expected to pass by at 686,000 km distance (under two lunar distances) from Earth between December 15 and 17, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESA has also launched a challenge for space lovers to spot the asteroid which is not larger than the Statue of Liberty.

As per the ESA, countries in the southern hemisphere will get a better view of the mid-size asteroid than the northern hemisphere. The 2015 RN35 will be visible to people in Europe until about December 19.

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On its website, the ESA said that the middle-sized asteroid would fly close to Earth becoming visible to amateur astronomers around the globe who can spot it using ESA’s freely available Asteroid Toolkit. The space agency has launched a challenge called the #ESAChristmasAsteroid for people to spot the asteroid.