Увидеть астероид можно будет 15 февраля в начале ночи, примерно в 23.30 мск.

Астрономы утверждают: нашу планету сопровождает космическое тело размером с 14-этажный дом. Астероид 2012 DA14 обнаружили астрономы из обсерватории Ла-Сагра в Испании еще в прошлом году. И были поражены увиденным. Быстро летящая яркая точка словно преследовала нашу планету, пристроившись к ней в хвост. Стали наблюдать за странным попутчиком. И выяснилось: тело движется вокруг Солнца почти по той же орбите, что и наша планета, и почти с тем же периодом обращения вокруг нашей звезды - 365 дней. И пока совершает оборот, сближается с Землей дважды. Астероид пролетит рядом с Землей - 15 февраля 2013 года на расстоянии ближе к Земле, чем спутники.
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=159813511
The small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to Earth on Feb. 15, 2013. Asteroid 2012 DA14 will be closest to Earth at about 11:24 a.m. PST (2:24 p.m. EST and 1924 UTC), on Feb. 15, when it will be at a distance of about 27,700 kilometers (17,200 miles) above Earth's surface. NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office can accurately predict the asteroid's path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course with Earth. Nevertheless, the flyby will provide a unique opportunity for researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.



Planetary scientist Daniel Durda talked about Near Earth asteroids, and the possibility of a mid-sized one, 2012 DA14, hitting us in 2013. The 150 ft. wide object (much smaller than Apophis) won't collide with Earth when it makes a close approach on Feb. 15th, 2013, he said, but its subsequent pass in 2020 could be of concern. We don't have enough information yet about what its orbit will look like at that time, he noted. A lot of recent asteroid & comet discoveries are being made by amateur astronomers, who ironically sometimes have better equipment and more time than the professionals, he commented.

Another asteroid of concern is 2011 AG5. About the size of a football stadium, it could cause a crater in the ground if it impacted Earth. It's going to make a near approach in February of 2023, and if it passes through in a certain way (a 1 in 625 chance), it could hit us on a return passage in 2040, he warned. Durda also talked about some of the unusual properties of Jupiter's moons, Europa and Io, as well as how we're living in the "glory age" of exoplanet discoveries, learning that our solar system is not unique, and we're not alone out there in the galaxy.

Biography:

Daniel Durda is a planetary scientist with the Southwest Research Institute. He has authored 68 scientific publications on the subject of the collisional and dynamical evolution of main-belt and near-Earth asteroids, Kuiper belt comets, and interplanetary dust; airborne observations of planetary occultations; the formation and observational detection of asteroidal satellites; the size distribution of dust from the catastrophic disruption of meteoritic samples; and the global distribution of ejecta from the Chicxulub impact crater.

Wikipedia
Asteroids (from Greek ἀστεροειδής - asteroeidēs, "star-like", from ἀστήρ "star" and εἶδος "like, in form") are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones. These terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not show the disk of a planet and was not observed to have the characteristics of an active comet, but as small objects in the outer Solar System were discovered, their volatile-based surfaces were found to more closely resemble comets, and so were often distinguished from traditional asteroids. Thus the term asteroid has come increasingly to refer specifically to the small bodies of the inner Solar System out to the orbit of Jupiter, which are usually rocky or metallic. They are grouped with the outer bodies—centaurs, Neptune trojans, and trans-Neptunian objects—as minor planets, which is the term preferred in astronomical circles. This article will restrict the use of the term 'asteroid' to the minor planets of the inner Solar System.

There are millions of asteroids, many thought to be the shattered remnants of planetesimals, bodies within the young Sun's solar nebula that never grew large enough to become planets. A large majority of known asteroids orbit in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter or co-orbital with Jupiter (the Jupiter Trojans). However, other orbital families exist with significant populations, including the near-Earth asteroids. Individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra, with the majority falling into three main groups: C-type, S-type, and M-type. These were named after and are generally identified with carbon-rich, stony, and metallic compositions, respectively.

A near-Earth object (NEO) is a Solar System object whose orbit brings it into close proximity with the Earth. All NEOs have a closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) of less than 1.3 AU. They include a few thousand near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), near-Earth comets, a number of solar-orbiting spacecraft, and meteoroids large enough to be tracked in space before striking the Earth. It is now widely accepted that collisions in the past have had a significant role in shaping the geological and biological history of the planet. NEOs have become of increased interest since the 1980s because of increased awareness of the potential danger some of the asteroids or comets pose to the Earth, and active mitigations are being researched.