See an asteroid fly across the Liverpool sky from 8pm tonight....

Sky-watchers on Merseyside will be able to view a large asteroid passing by close to earth tonight.

It will be possible to see in from Liverpool from about 8pm until 1am.

This is the closest the asteroid will pass for another 200 years, and it will be 2027 before another passes by us at this distance.

The asteroid, measuring about 1800ft wide, will miss earth by 745,000 miles - three times the distance from the moon.

Dr Jon Marchant, from the Astrophysics Research Institute at John Moores University, said: “Three ‘lunar distances’ is a long way in human terms, but pretty close in astronomical terms.

“For instance, the next nearest natural body is Venus, which at its closest this Summer will still be over 100 times further away than the Moon.

The predicted trajectory of asteroid 2004 BL86, which will approach as close as three times the distance from the Earth to the Moon

“Small asteroids fly by the Earth quite often, sometimes a bit closer, usually much further away, but what makes this one stand out is that it’s fairly big. The latest estimates put it at somewhere between 400-1000 metres across.

“If that impacted, the explosion energy could be up to 1000 times more powerful than the biggest bomb ever set off (the “Tsar Bomb”, 1963, Russia).

“Luckily it’ll miss us by a wide margin.”

Because of its large size, the b2004 BL86 will brighten quickly as it approaches Earth.

Dr Marchant said: “Despite its relatively large size and close distance, it’ll still be too faint to see with the naked eye, I’m afraid. However, if you have very good and large binoculars (10x50s at least) or a small telescope, you might be able to make it out.

“Through a telescope you should be able to see it clearly moving against the background stars.”

The asteroid will travel through the constellations Hydra and Cancer in the south-south eastern evening sky - look out for the brightest ‘star’ in the sky - actually the planet Jupiter.

However, the Met Office has forecast a cloudy night over Liverpool, so it may only be possible to catch a glimpse of it through gaps in the cloud.

Story and Photo Source: Liverpool Echo