If you’re feeling a bit disappointed with the breakup of Comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4), console yourself by searching for a large near-Earth asteroid with the catchy official name of 52768 (1998 OR2) that is already visible with instruments as small as 15-cm (6-inch) aperture and will brighten to eleventh-magnitude by the end of April.
The following extract of a detailed printable PDF finder chart for download shows the track of 1998 OR2 when moonlight will not be a problem for observers in the British Isles as darkness falls, which is about 10:40pm in mid-April, or 11pm a week later (all times BST, central UK).
By new Moon on 23 April, 1998 OR2 is predicted to be magnitude +12 or brighter and crossing the constellation border of Cancer into Leo at a rate of close to 4¼ degrees per day. By the time that the asteroid passes closest to Earth at a distance of just 16.4 lunar distances (6.3 million kilometres) at 09:56 UT (10:56am BST) on Wednesday, 29 April, it’s predicted to peak at magnitude +10.8, moving at a rate of 6.9 degrees/day against the stars of Hydra.
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