Images of a "dangerous" asteroid reached the nearest point of the earth

NASA picked up high-resolution images of the massive asteroid that circled near the Earth earlier this month, revealing observations of a mysterious huge vacuum in the middle.

The space rock, known as the 3200 Phaethon, reached the nearest point of the Earth, on December 16, 10.3 million km, to separate it the closest distance from Earth at all, until the next pass by 2093, according to NASA.

The images were taken using the planetary radar of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, shortly after the return of normal work at the end of Hurricane Maria. The body is shown to be somewhat spherical in the images, and there is a "clear" area of darkness near one of the poles.

"The new observations show that Phaethon may be similar in shape to the Bennu asteroid," says Patrick Taylor, a US space scientist.

The new notes recorded, from December 15 to 19, show that Phaethon's width is about 6 km, which means it is larger than previously thought at about 1 km.

Arecibo is the most powerful astronomical radar system on Earth, but was slightly damaged during the recent hurricane in Puerto Rico.

NASA said the Phaethon asteroid could be a bit dangerous, with its last flight to Earth since December 16, 1974. The asteroid was first discovered in 1983, the third largest space rock near Earth and classified as "dangerous."

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