Massive Bridge-Size Asteroid to Fly Past Earth on April 13, Warns NASA; Know If It Will Hit Our Planet and Trigger Doomsday
On Thursday, the concerned asteroid will travel 7.4 million kilometres past the planet. The asteroid has a width of 2200 feet, making it almost as large as the Golden Bridge.
Mumbai, April 12: Asteroids often come quite close to Earth, but fortunately never close enough to cause a surface impact. Despite this, asteroids' close contacts make us more aware of the damage they may pose to our world. As these NEOs have the potential to cause devastation on Earth if they ever crash, organisations like NASA, ESA, and others continue to monitor them.
Meanwhile, the Earth is now being approached by a large ‘brigde-size’ asteroid, which will be within striking distance of the planet on Thursday, i.e. April 13, 2023. Asteroid Alert! Doomsday Fears Grow As NASA Says Three Giant Asteroids To Fly Past Earth, Check Dates and Other Details Inside.
NASA followed the asteroid that was headed for Earth and was able to gather important data about it, such as its speed, closest approach distance, size, and other attributes.
Asteroid Details
Asteroid 436774 (2012 KY3) is the name given to the asteroid by the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA. The same organisation also revealed its expected speed, close approach distance, and trajectory.
The concerned asteroid will fly 7.4 million kilometres past Earth on Thursday. The asteroid is almost as big as the Golden Bridge with a width of 2200 feet, and is speeding towards the planet with a closest approach to Earth of 2,970,000 MI/km. Doomsday Coming? Two Giant Asteroids Hurtling Towards Earth at Breakneck Speed, Warns NASA; Know If They Will Hit Our Planet.
The rocks is most probably a component of the Apollo group of asteroids, a group of Near-Earth asteroids named after the sizable Apollo asteroid from 1862 that was discovered in the 1930s by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth.
Protection From Asteroid Impact
Various asteroids are heading for Earth and could collide, therefore NASA has already tested its DART Mission to defend the planet. By colliding a spacecraft with it earlier, the space agency successfully changed the course of an oncoming asteroid.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 12, 2023 11:53 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).