Asteroid Alert! House-Sized Celestial Rock Hurtling Towards Earth At Breakneck Speed, NASA Reveals If It Poses Any Threat To Humans
With a closest earth approach distance of 5,920,000 km, the 18-foot celestial rock will fly past the planet on April 22, 2023.
Mumbai, April 22: No asteroid has ever been close enough to Earth's surface to be struck, despite the fact that asteroids pass rather close to the globe every other day. The celestial bodies, which include meteors, asteroids, and comets, can amaze us in a number of ways and serve as a preserved record of the early solar system. The solar system was created more than 4.6 billion years ago, and as of now, there are 1,278,065 known asteroids and 3,865 known comets. Asteroid Warning: Two Mega Asteroids to Zoom Past Earth on April 21, Know What NASA Has to Say.
Asteroid Details
The Asteroid 2023 HQ, named by NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, is hurtling towards earth with a rapid speed. The trajectory, close approach distance, and expected speed of the asteroid has been disclosed by the space agency.
NASA confirmed that the asteroid will not collide with Earth’s atmosphere, and will fly past quite close to our planet on Saturday, April 22. The 18 foot celestial rock will zoom past the globe with the closet earth approach of 5,920,000 kilometers.
Asteroid Concerns
Asteroids are rocky, airless objects from the early solar system and are regarded as small planets. They are regarded as leftovers from the formation of the solar system and orbit the sun in eccentric circles. The roughly 30,000 asteroids of all sizes that have been discovered to be close to Earth are referred to as "Near Earth Objects" (NEOs), including over 850 that are larger than one kilometre. None of these are expected to put Earth in jeopardy for at least the following century. Asteroid Alert by NASA: Two Bus-Sized Asteroids Hurtling Towards Earth at Rapid Speed, Know If They Will Collide With Our Planet Today.
Preventing the Impact Of Asteroids
In order to divert potentially harmful asteroids that are travelling towards Earth and might strike, NASA has previously tested its DART Mission for planetary security. The space agency's previous collision of a spacecraft with it successfully changed the trajectory of an approaching asteroid.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 21, 2023 12:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).