9 Feb
2013
9 Feb
'13
12:47 a.m.
In case you are thinking of trying to observe the near miss, it will occur at mid-day in North America, so no chance of observing it there. Your best chance will be in Asia where it will be as bright as magnitude 8. The cut-off for a naked-eye object is magnitude 6, but under perfect conditions, you can sometimes see a magnitude 8.
Ideally, you would use binoculars or a telescope, but finding something that faint moving that fast will still be difficult.
There is a star chart at the link below, but due to the massive paralax for something this close, you really need to use some software that knows your latitude and longitude.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/Asteroid-DA14-to-Zip-Pas...