JAKARTA, NETRALNEWS.COM - An asteroid will cross the earth at a distance of about 42,000 kilometers just above the orbiting height of the communication satellite. According to NASA, the asteroid is harmless but gives scientists the opportunity to test the network of asteroid detection and tracking system around the world

TC4 2012 asteroid will pass Earth on October 12 with a distance of about 43,500 km, or about one-eighth distance to the moon. According to a statement from NASA, previous observations show that space rocks can reach 6,800 km.

Scientists are attracted to this asteroid not only because of its proximity, but also because of its size. Asteroids are between 10 and 30 meters in size, or the same general size as rocks that explode above the surface of the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February 2013.

"The asteroid tracker uses this flyby to test for asteroid detection and tracking networks around the world, assessing our ability to work together in response to potential threats of potential asteroid impacts," said Michael Kelley, Scientist Program and NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Agency (PDCO) leads for the TC4 observation campaign, as quoted from The Indian Express page, Wednesday (10/11/2017).

The asteroid is estimated to be 15 to 30 meters in size, and according to orbit expert predictions, does not cause any possible impact with Earth.

The asteroid was discovered by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) in Hawaii in 2012. However, TC4 2012 traveled out of reach of the asteroid tracking telescope shortly after it was discovered. Based on the observations they could make in 2012, asteroid trackers predicted to be re-seen in 2017.

Observers with the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory were the first to rediscover the 2012 TC4, at the end of July 2017, using one of their large 8-meter aperture telescopes.

Since then, observers around the world have been tracking the object as it approaches Earth and report their observations to the Minor Planet Center. No known asteroid is expected to have an impact on Earth over the next 100 years, NASA said.