7 Asteroids Passing Earth This Week

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

Seven asteroid reportedly crossed Earth until this weekend. One of the passing asteroids is included in the category of dangerous asteroids.

The largest asteroid that passes is named 2021 KTI. The asteroid measures 600 feet or 183 meters. In fact, some scientists believe the actual size could be larger than expected.

Asteroid 2021 KTI is classified by NASA as a ‘potentially hazardous object’ because it is a near-Earth object measuring more than 492 feet and passing within 4.6 million miles of Earth.

For reference, the average distance between the Earth and the Moon is about 239,000 miles. So the distance of this asteroid is quite far because it is still about 8 times the distance of the Moon.

When it passed, 2021 KT1 was 4.5 million miles from Earth. There is no possibility of the asteroid hitting Earth. The asteroid was flying at about 40,000 miles per hour, according to scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“It’s only ‘potentially dangerous’ in the long term. The asteroid has no chance of impacting Earth this week, or even at any time in the next 2 centuries,” said Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. CBS.

“In fact, we have calculated a near-future approach for the next 200 years and we know that it cannot impact Earth in that time, or maybe forever,” he said.

Six other asteroids, which are essentially waste rock over four billion years old, are known to be smaller than 2021 KT1.

Asteroid 2021 KT2 measuring about 7 m and LB 2018 measuring about 21 m passed on Tuesday (8/6). The two pass within 181,000 miles and 694,000 miles of Earth, respectively.

Launch Yahoo News, an asteroid named JW6 2021 measuring about 19 m also passed Earth on Wednesday (9/6), along with 2021 KE1 measuring about 16 m. They pass within about 1.9 million miles and 3.6 million miles from Earth.

Meanwhile, on Thursday (10/6) and Saturday (12/6) there were more asteroids.

Chodas said that it is normal for many asteroids to cross Earth. In fact, he expects a new asteroid to be added to the list this week.

Most asteroids orbit the Sun in orbits between Mars and Jupiter. But sometimes, its orbital path is affected by the gravitational pull of another planet, changing its course. Scientists believe past asteroids collided with Earth to be the main cause in the evolution of the planet.

In March, an asteroid similar in size to the Golden Gate Bridge shot past planet Earth. The asteroid is rated as the largest and fastest asteroid to pass Earth in 2021.

According to NASA, the largest known threat today is an asteroid named (410777) 2009 FD, which has less than a 0.2 percent chance of hitting Earth in 2185.

(jps / eks)

[Gambas:Video CNN]

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