Asteroid 2020 GA3, Bigger Than The Leaning Tower of Pisa Rapidly Approaching Earth Today, Is it Dangerous? Know More
While a huge space rock is said to flyby the planet at the end of this month, NASA has detected another near-earth object which will be passing through Earth's orbit today ie April 20, Monday. The asteroid 2020 GA3 is about the size of a building bigger than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.
In the last few days, we are reading a lot of reports about incoming asteroids making flybys from the earth. While a huge space rock is said to flyby the planet at the end of this month, NASA has detected another near-earth object which will be passing through Earth's orbit today ie April 20, Monday. The asteroid 2020 GA3 is about the size of a building bigger than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. Asteroid 2020 GH2 is Not The Only Big Space Rock Passing by Earth, Know About Asteroid 1998 OR2, The Size of Mt Everest Which Will Skim Past This Month.
The asteroid 2020 GA3 will pass across Earth’s path on April 20 at 5:50 p.m. EDT ie 3.20 AM IST. As the asteroid flies past Earth, it will be around 1.9 million miles from the planet’s center. Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) identified this asteroid only on April 15. It follows a natural trajectory that passes through the Earth's orbit.2020 GA3 measures about 194 feet wide and will pass at an average speed of 40,000 miles per hour. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has been the trajectory diagram on their website.
NASA has classified it as Apollo asteroid as it follows the wide orbit around the sun. Since the earth has its cycle around the earth, the asteroid will be intersecting the Earth's orbit. Further observations of the trajectory will allow NASA to determine the history of this near-earth object. But there is no need to worry as this asteroid is not on the collision course to the planet. Based on the projection details, this asteroid will not return around the Earth's neighbourhood until 2029.
Towards the end of the month, on April 29, another massive asteroid, 1998 OR2, one almost the size of Mt Everest is expected to flyby the earth. There were doomsday reports about this space rock, but NASA confirmed there is no truth to it. In fact, people will be able to observe this asteroid if they have the proper equipment. During the time of coronavirus crisis, you are likely to come across fake reports about asteroid crashings but do not believe in any of these.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 20, 2020 01:16 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).