NASA’s Planetary Radar Images Asteroid As It Approaches Earth
The day before asteroid 2008 OS7 made its close approach with Earth on Feb. 2, this series of images was captured by the powerful 230-foot (70-meter) Goldstone Solar System Radar antenna near Barstow, California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
During the close approach of 2008 OS7 with Earth on February 2, the agency’s Deep Space Network planetary radar gathered the first detailed images of the stadium-size asteroid.
On February 2, a large asteroid safely drifted past Earth at a distance of about 1.8 million miles (2.9 million kilometers, or 7 ½ times the distance between Earth and the Moon). There was no risk of the asteroid – called 2008 OS7 – impacting our planet, but scientists at 
The Goldstone Solar System Radar (GSSR) is a large radar system used for investigating objects in the Solar System. Located in the desert near Barstow, California, it comprises a 500-kW X-band (8500 MHz) transmitter and a low-noise receiver on the 70-m DSS 14 antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex. Credit: NASA
Radar Imaging Reveals Details
During the February 2 close approach, CNEOS) refine calculations of the asteroid’s orbital path around the Sun. Asteroid 2008 OS7 orbits the Sun once every 2.6 years, traveling from within the orbit of NASA’s Planetary Radar Images Asteroid As It Approaches Earth