A mask asteroid flies across the Earth

The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is tracking an asteroid named 1998 OR2 and recently, they have taken its radar image. Surprisingly, this picture makes the planet look like a mask.

Asteroids will soon come close to Earth, but will pass at a safe distance. The photo was shared by Central Florida University on April 23, which attracted a lot of attention.

"The small-scale terrain features such as hills and rocky ridges at one end of the asteroid 1998 OR2 are scientifically attractive," says scientific researcher Anne Virkki.  "But because we're all thinking about Covid-19, these characteristics make it look like 1998 OR2 is wearing a mask."  

In fact, a lot of interesting radar photos of asteroids have been taken in the past. Some look like a hippopotamus, and an asteroid is like a messy dice. Obviously, the faint images obtained give the viewer enough raw material to unleash to imagine.

Radar observations help scientists learn more about asteroids and their orbits. And this will not be the last visit of this masked asteroid to Earth.

"In 2079, the asteroid 1998 OR2 will pass through Earth nearly 3.5 times more than this year, so it is important to know its exact trajectory," said scientist Flaviane Venditti. .

The asteroid 1998 OR2 is about 2 km across, and its closest approach to Earth is on April 29. If lucky, the scientists will get a clearer view of the "mask", or rather the surface of the asteroid.