The feast of All Saints this year, not only the cemeteries, but also the orbit will light up in red. An asteroid the size of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa is approaching our planet. And it can be potentially dangerous, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has warned.
Scientists estimate that the diameter of the asteroid, called 2022 RM4, is between 330 and 740 meters. In size, it resembles the tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It will fly around the earth at a speed of about 84,500 kilometers per hour, which is about 68 times the speed of sound.
The largest space body will be closest to our planet on November 1, or All Saints’ Day, writes the portal Space. It will be about 2.3 million kilometers from Earth. It is six times the distance between the Earth and the Moon and, according to experts, it is very small by cosmic standards.
NASA classifies the asteroid as “potentially dangerous,” the paper notes News from heaven. This category includes all objects that are within 7.5 million kilometers of the Earth.
Despite warnings from American authorities, the asteroid poses no real threat, astronomer Tony Dunn reassures. “We will not be in danger, but asteroid 2022 RM4 will fly over the Earth within six lunar distances. It is very close for an asteroid of this size,” he wrote on twitter.
Scientists are constantly looking for ways to protect Earth from threats from space. For example, in September, NASA successfully attempted to deflect a harmless asteroid from its orbit. However, according to experts, we are not in danger of colliding with any of the space bodies for at least the next 100 years.
NASA probe hits asteroid to deorbit it (09/2022):
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