The Virtual Telescope Project
Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (52768) 1998 OR2
updated
Next 20-21 October, both the amazing comets C/2025 A6 Lemmon and C/2025 R2 SWAN will be at their minimum distance from our Earth. It will be a unique opportunity to admire their beauty and the Virtual Telescope Project will show them live, online!
The live feed is scheduled for 20 October. 2025 and it will start at 17:30 UTC.
The International Observe the Moon Night is back: are you ready to celebrate? The Virtual Telescope Project – official supporter/key partner of this Nasa event since 2019 – will bring to you the beauty and the importance of our Moon, thanks to live and archival images. All this during the first Supermoon of the year.
Weather permitting, we will show live images from our robotic facility, as well as archive imagery with the Moon in Rome, Italy.
The live feed is scheduled for 7 October. 2025 and it will start at 03:45 UTC.
Next 18 Sept., the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2025 FA22 will have a close, but safe close encounter with our planet, coming as close as 842000 kilometers, 2.2 times the average lunar distance. We will show it live.
The live feed will start on 18 Sept. 2025, starting at 03:00 UTC.
Next 7 Sept., the Moon will offer us a superb show: a total eclipse. We will bring it to the world, sharing it in real-time: join us from the comfort of your home!
The live feed will start on 7 Sept. 2025, starting at 17:45 UTC.
On 3 Sept. 2025, the recently discovered near-Earth asteroid 2025 QD8 will have a very close, but safe, encounter with us, coming at about 218000 km from the Earth, 57% of the average lunar distance. The Virtual Telescope Project will show it to you live!
A new interstellar object, temporarily named A11pl3Z and now 3I/ATLAS = C/2025 N1, has been just discovered. It’s the third one ever found. We will show it live, online: join us from the comfort of your home.
The new interstellar object A11pl3Z was discovered on 1 July 2025 by the ATLAS Survey.
So far, only two previous interstellar objects traveling across the Solar System were found: 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
The Virtual Telescope Project will show this exceptional object live, online, on 3 July 2025, starting at 22:20 UTC. You can join us and spot A11pl3Z in real-time from the comfort of your home.
(in the picture: the orbit of A11pl3Z - credits: David Rankin, Catalina Sky Survey).
Asteroid Day 2025 is coming next 30 June, to celebrate its 10th Anniversary! Join our live feed and discover near-Earth asteroids with us, learning what they are, their impact risk and what we can do to mitigate it.
The live feed will start on 5 June 2025, starting at 22:00 UTC.
On 17 June 2025 planet Mars and the bright star Regulus will have a close conjunction, offering a stunning show because of the elegant colors, red and blue, of the objects involved. We will show it live, online!
The live feed will start on 17 June 2025, starting at 19:45 UTC.
The Strawberry Full Moon is coming next 11 June 2025: we will share it live with the world, thanks to our robotic telescopes.
The live feed will start on 11 June 2025, starting at 20:15 UTC.
Next 5 June, the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (424482) 2008 DG5 will have a close, but safe close encounter with our planet, coming as close as 3.5 million of kilometers, 9 times the average lunar distance.
We will show it live.
The live feed will start on 5 June 2025, starting at 22:00 UTC.
Next 9 May, the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (612356) 2002 JX8 will have a close, but safe close encounter with our planet, coming as close as 4.2 million of kilometers, 10.9 times the average lunar distance (source: JPL/Nasa). ,
On these very nights, asteroid (4) Vesta, generally the brightest asteroid in our sky, is perfectly placed out there, at opposition.
We will show both those asteroids live.
The live feed will start on 8 May 2025, starting at 20:30 UTC.
Join us and explore breathtaking views of nebulae, star clusters, and distant galaxies through a powerful robotic telescope in Italy. Hosted the The Virtual Telescope Project and world-renowned astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, this event promises a mesmerizing night under the stars—no matter where in the world you are.
📅 Date: April 23, 2025
🕒 Time: 2000 UTC
Don’t miss this rare chance to cruise the cosmos from the comfort of home. Bring your curiosity—and your questions!
This event is officially part of Global Astronomy Month 2025, organized by Astronomers Without Borders
On 5 April, the Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 2025 BC10 will have a close, but safe close encounter with our planet, coming as close as 3.7 million of kilometers, 9.6X the average lunar distance (source: JPL/Nasa). We will show it live.
The potentially hazardous asteroid 2025 BC10 was discovered on 28 Jan. 2025 by the Panstarrs Survey. Its diameter is estimated in the 360-800 meters range, while the minimum distance will be reached on 5 April 2025, at 10:12 UTC (source: Nasa/JPL). Of course, there are no risks at all for our planet.
A similar close approach happens one time every one year on average, accordingly to JPL Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS).
The Virtual Telescope Project will show it live, online, on 5 April 2025, starting at 20:00 UTC, this way, you can spot this rock in real-time from the comfort of your home.
The live feed will start on 5 April 2025, starting at 20:00 UTC. This event is part of the Global Astronomy Month 2025 celebrations.
Next 14 Mar., the Moon will put on the stunning show of the total eclipse. We will bring the show to you live, thanks to an international team.
Next 14 Mar. 2025, the Worm Moon will offer us a superb total eclipse, mainly visible from the Americas. The eclipse will happen during the first MicroMoon of the year (the full Moon involved in the eclipse happens with our satellite at about its maximum distance from us, the apogee).
As in the past, the Virtual Telescope Project will partner with some great astro-imagers around the globe, to bring to you the stunning beauty of such a unique event. A wonderful example of cooperation through geographical borders!
So far, the 14 Mar. 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse Team is composed as below (regularly updated):
astrophotographer: Karim Jaffer (Montreal Centre, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, & John Abbott College);
astrophotographer: Adrian Bradley (Pointe Aux Barques Lighthouse, MI, USA);
astrophotographer: Joaquin Fabrega Polleri (Panama);
astrophotographer: Bill Longo (Buckhorn, Ontario, Canada);
astrophotographer: Gary Varney (Florida, USA);
astrophotographer: John W. Johnson (Nebraska, USA)
astrophotographer: Daniel Brousseau (Sherbrooke, Quebec, Astronomes Amateurs de Sherbrooke, Canada);
astrophotographer: Sonali Deshmukh (Nebraska, USA)
astrophotographer: James McCue (New Mexico, USA);
coordinator and live comment: astrophysicist Gianluca Masi (The Virtual Telescope Project, Italy).
Our live feed covering the total lunar eclipse is scheduled for 14 Mar. 2025, at 04:00 UTC.
On 28 Feb. 2025, we will have the opportunity to see all the seven planets of our Solar System at a glance, plus the Moon. We will show all of them live: join us online, from the comfort of your home.
Our live feed covering Mars at its opposition is scheduled for 28 February 2025, at 17:00 UTC.
Around Jan. 25, we will see six planets of seven at a glance: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will be above the horizon all together. We will show all of the live: join the adventure online, from the comfort of your home.
Our live feed covering Mars at its opposition is scheduled for 26Jan. 2025, at 17:30 UTC.
Il video spiega anche come osservare questa parata planetaria, incluso il momento migliore per farlo (il 25 febbraio) e gli strumenti necessari (un binocolo o un piccolo telescopio). Masi sottolinea anche l'importanza di proteggere il cielo notturno dall'inquinamento luminoso.
Next 4 Jan. 2025 the Moon will occult Saturn, the ringed planet, offering an amazing show.
The Virtual Telescope Project is ready to bring the experience to you from Italy, using its robotic telescopes in Tuscany, in the beautiful landscape of the Maremma: join us live, online, from the comfort of your home.
The live feed is scheduled for 4 Jan. 2025 and it will start at 17:15 UTC.
Next 3 Jan. 2025 the Moon and Venus, the brightest objects in the night sky, will meet at sunset, offering a stunning view. We will share this show live, online!
On the same evening, the Quadrantid meteor shower will reach its peak of activity and we will share it live, online: join us from the comfort of your home!
The live feed covering both the events will start on 3 Jan. 2025, at 16:45 UTC.
© Gianluca Masi - Virtual Telescope Project.
Next 13-14 Dec. 2024, the Geminid meteors will be back. This year, the Moon will be almost full, so it will significantly spoil the show. Nonetheless, we will share the experience live, to show the brightest meteors in real time!
The live feed will start on 13 Dec. 2024, at 23:00 UTC
Next 15 Nov., we will have the last Supermoon of the year, corresponding to the Beaver full Moon.
We will share this Supermoon live, online, showing real-time images from our telescopes installed in Manciano, Italy, in the wonderful Maremma countryside.
The live feed is scheduled for 15 Nov. 2024 and it will start at 18:30 UTC.
We will observe comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS now that is is slowly leaving the inner Solar System. Join us from the comfort of your home!
This live feed is scheduled for 28Oct. 2024 and it will start at 18:00 UTC.
Between 14 & 15 Oct. 2024, the Earth will cross the orbital plane of comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. Under these conditions, an antitail could be visible, pointing in the direction of the Sun. We will check this in real-time with you!
This live feed is scheduled for 15 Oct. 2024 and it will start at 17:15 UTC.
Now comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is visible in the evening sky and we will show it to you live!!
The live feed is scheduled for 13 Oct. 2024 and it will start at 17:00 UTC.
We will observe comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on the day it will be at its closest to our planet!
The live feed is scheduled for 12 Oct. 2024 and it will start at 17:00 UTC.
The night between 10 and 11 October 2024 could offer us the show of a spectacular auroral activity. We scheduled this live feed, expecting it could be visibile from Italy.
The live feed is scheduled for 10 October 2024 and it will start at 20:30 UTC.
We will try to observe comet C/2023 A3 on the day its brightness is expected to peak, because of the forward scattering effect. We will use different telescopes available at our facility in Manciano (Italy) under the darkest skies of the Italian peninsula.
What we will see? It is hard to say at this point, but as always the Virtual Telescope Project is ready to bring to you the most spectacular astronomical events!
The live feed is scheduled for 9 Oct. 2024 and it will start at 16:30 UTC.
While hopefully waiting for its show, we will share comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS live at its perihelion, the minimum distance from the Sun. Join our life feed from the comfort of your home!
The live feed is scheduled for 29 Sept. 2024 and it will start at 04:00 UTC.
Next 17 Sept. 2024, the potentially hazardous asteroid 2024 ON will have a close and obviously safe encounter with us, coming at about 1 million of km from the Earth, 2.6 times the average lunar distance. The Virtual Telescope Project will show it to you live!
At the time of that live feed, the near-Earth asteroid 2024 RQ (25 – 56 meters large) will be almost at its minimum distance from us, just beyond the lunar orbit and we will show it live, too!
The live feed is scheduled for 15 Sept. 2024 and it will start at 19:30 UTC.
The International Observe the Moon Night is back: are you ready to celebrate? The Virtual Telescope Project – official supporter/key partner of this Nasa event since 2019 – will bring to you the beauty and the importance of our Moon, thanks to live and archival images.
Weather permitting, we will show live images from our robotic facility, as well as archive imagery with the Moon in Rome, Italy.
The live feed is scheduled for 14 Sept.. 2024 and it will start at 21:30 UTC.
This time-lapse shows the 21 August 2024 lunar occultation of Saturn, captured via the 14" robotic unit part of the Virtual Telescope Project facility in Manciano, Italy.
Next 21 Aug. 2024, the Moon will occult Saturn, the ringed planet, offering an amazing show.
The Virtual Telescope Project is ready to bring the experience to you from Italy, using its robotic telescopes in Tuscany, in the beautiful landscape of the Maremma: join us live, online, from the comfort of your home.
The live feed is scheduled for 21 Aug. 2024 and it will start at 03:30 UTC.
Next 19 Aug., we will have the 1st Supermoon of the year, the Sturgeon full Moon. It also is the 3rd full Moon of the four ones this season will show, a so-called Blue Moon. We will show it online, while it rises above sea in Central Italy.
The live feed is scheduled for 19 Aug. 2024 and it will start at 21:30 UTC.
Next 14 and 15 Aug. 2024, Jupiter and Mars will shine very close in the sky, at dawn. We will show this stunning conjunction live, online.
In mid-August 2024, Jupiter and Mars will shine less than half-a-degree away, the angular size of our Moon, early in the morning, just before dawn.
The Virtual Telescope Project is ready to bring the experience to you from Italy, using its robotic telescopes in Tuscany, in the beautiful landscape of the Maremma: join us live, online, from the comfort of your home.
The live feed is scheduled for 14 Aug. 2024 and it will start at 02:30 UTC.
The Perseid meteor shower is back, ready to put a wonderful show up there. We will share it live, online, around their peak: join us from the comfort of your home.
At Virtual Telescope we will broadcast the meteor shower live, online, for free. We will share the view of our wide field cameras, to show any potential meteor they will capture. This is something you really want to join! We will use, in particular, our all-sky camera installed in Manciano, under the darkest skies of the Italian peninsula, in the Maremma countryside.
We scheduled TWO live streamings showing the Perseid 2024 meteor shower in action: 12 AND 13 2023, BOTH starting at 01:00 UT.
La diretta inizierà alle ore 23:30 del 30 giugno 2024.
NOTE: the event has been postponed. It will start at 23:00 UTC, on 29 June 2024.
On 29 June 2024, the potentially hazardous asteroid 2024 MK will have a very close, but safe, encounter with us, coming at about 295000 km from the Earth, about 77% of the average lunar distance, becoming one of the brightest objects of its kind seen in recent history. The Virtual Telescope Project will show it to you live!
The live feed will start on 29 June 2024, at 21:45 UTC.
On 27 June 2024, the large Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21 will have a relatively close, but safe, encounter with us, coming at about 6.6 millions of km from the Earth. We will show it live, when it is will be at its closest to our planet.
The large potentially hazardous asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21 has an estimated diameter in the 1.7 – 3.9 kilometers range, while the minimum distance from the earth will be reached on 27 June, at 20:16 UTC (source: Nasa/JPL). Of course, there are no risks at all for our planet.
A close approach of an asteroid of this size happens on average every 10 years.
The Virtual Telescope Project will show it live, online, just at the time of its fly-by with the Earth. This way, you can have a look from the comfort of your home.
The live feed will start on 27June 2024, at 20:00 UTC.
This event is part of the Asteroid Day 2024 celebrations.
NB: audio starts at min 26.00, I had to fix an issue, sorry for that.
In a few hours, the just discovered near-Earth asteroid 2024 JN16 will have an exceptionally close, but save approach with the Earth, coming as close as 25000 km from us on 14 May, at 09:50 UTC (source: Nasa/JPL), closer than geostationary sats.
We scheduled a live feed, going to show this extreme close approacher live, in a few hours.
The live feed is scheduled for 14 May, starting at 00:00 UTC.
The live feed will start on 14 May2024, at 00:00 UTC.
The sequence covers the entire night and the whole sky.
Images comes from the allsky camera available at the Virtual Telescope Project facility in Manciano, Italy.
The sequence covers the entire night and the whole sky.
Images comes from the allsky camera available at the Virtual Telescope Project facility in Manciano, Italy.
Next 8 Apr., the Sun will amaze us with a stunning total eclipse. We will bring the show to you live, thanks to an international team.
The live feed will start on 8 Apr. 2024, at 17:00 UTC.
Next 30 June 2015, anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska event, will be internationally celebrated as the “Asteroid Day“: it is “a global awareness movement where people from around the world come together to learn about asteroids and what we can do to protect our planet, our families, communities, and future generations“.
The Virtual Telescope Project is the leading facility in the world sharing live, online the most spectacular near-Earth asteroids and their close encounters with our home planet. We showed these objects to millions of individuals from more than 200 Countries. We will offer this live, online event on the occasion on the Asteroid Day celebration. A chat will make possible to people to submit questions in real time.
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is putting right now a superb show up there, soon after sunset: the Virtual Telescope Project will share the view with you live, online!
The live feed will start on 12 Mar. 2024, at 18:30 UTC.


