In early February, a giant asteroid will cross Earth

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Early February, a giant asteroid 42 meters in diameter will pass near the earth. The asteroid that will pass near Earth is the large asteroid 2022 AA.

Amateur astronomer Marufin Sudibyo said the asteroid was discovered on January 1, 2022 through the Purple Mountain Observatory facility, Xu Yi station in China.

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“(Asteroids) have been confirmed by sky surveying systems in various parts of the world, from Europe to Latin America,” said Marufin when contacted by Kompas.com, Wednesday (19/1/2022).

He added that this asteroid is classified as an Apollo class near-Earth asteroid that orbits the sun once every 1.46 years.

“As an Apollo class, then (asteroids) have orbits that can intersect with Earth’s orbit,” he said.

When will this asteroid cross Earth?

Separately, researchers from Pusainassa Aviation Institute and National Space Agency (LAPAN) Andi Pangerang explained, this asteroid has an average distance to the sun of about 192.6 million km, greater than the Earth-sun average distance of 149.6 million km.

However, perihelion large asteroid 2022 AA This is about 143.8 million km, smaller than Earth’s aphelion which reaches 152.1 million km. The asteroid passed near Earth on February 4, 2022 at 21:16 UT or February 5, 2022 at 04:16 WIB with a distance of 2,542,000 km from Earth.

“This asteroid is traveling at a speed of 13,200 km per hour as it passes near Earth,” Andi explained.

Andi added, the current distance asteroid when it passes close to Earth, it is still greater than the roche limit or the minimum distance an object can keep it from breaking into pieces.

This is because the tidal or locking force experienced by the object, in this case the asteroid 2022 AA, is the same as the Earth’s gravitational force.

affirmed, large asteroid 2022 AA will only pass near the Earth safely or safely close approach.

This asteroid does not have the potential to collide with Earth, at least according to modeling limits that only apply to the next century.

“This asteroid is not dangerous,” said Marufin.

Thus, the public is advised to remain calm and not to panic about the asteroid. Andi added that the asteroid’s angular width is only 5.76 milliseconds of arc, so it cannot be seen with the naked eye.

“So (when the asteroid passes near Earth) it can only be seen using a large-lens telescope, more than 25 cm,” concluded Andi.

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