Alert, ‘Potentially Dangerous’ Large Asteroid Approaches Earth on Saturday

NEW YORK – Asteroid Named “2016 AJ193” and classified as “potentially hazardous” by NASA, it will fly past Earth Saturday (21/8).

NASA is currently monitoring 1,000 asteroids that are “potentially hazardous” to planet Earth.

The 1.4 km wide space rock moving at a speed of 94,208 km per hour will pass Earth at a distance of 3,427,445 km from the planet.

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“The asteroid will approach our planet at 15:10 GMT,” said a NASA statement.

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NASA will observe the asteroid from August 20 to 24 using radar. This asteroid is 1.5 times larger than the size of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.

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The asteroid is more than three times the size of the Empire State Building and more than 4.5 times the size of the Eiffel Tower.

The space object was spotted in January 2016 by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), which is part of Hawaii’s Haleakala Observatory.

Every 5.9 years, the asteroid orbits the Sun as it moves toward Earth’s orbit, it shoots toward Jupiter.

This asteroid visit will be AJ193 2016’s closest pass to Earth, at least for the next 65 years.

NASA is currently tracking more than 26,000 asteroids that have near-Earth orbits, while more than 1,000 of those asteroids are considered potentially dangerous.

(sya)

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