CALIFORNIA – Asteroid predicted to pass close to Earth on Tuesday next week. Not just one, in total there are seven asteroids that are expected to pass the human planet at the end of this week.
The largest asteroid named 2021 KT1 measures about 600 feet, about the size of the Seattle Space Needle and taller than the Washington Monument. However, scientists believe the asteroid could be as large as 1,049 feet (319 meters), comparable in size to the Chrysler Building in New York City.
The asteroid is classified by NASA as a “potentially hazardous object” because it is a near-Earth object that is larger than 492 feet and passes within 4.6 million miles of Earth.
For reference, the average distance between Earth and the moon is about 239,000 miles. According to scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2021 KT1 comes within 4.5 million miles of Earth, a relatively close encounter.
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The celestial body flies past about 40,000 miles per hour. But there is no possibility of the asteroid hitting Earth, as quoted from CBS News, Sunday (6/6/2021).
Read also: This asteroid breaks the record for the closest pass to the earth without crashing
However, researchers are tracking all asteroids that are approaching Earth and they are looking for ways to deflect asteroids that could threaten Earth in the future.
