Berlin (dpa)
Posted on: Saturday, March 25, 2023 – 5:22 PM | Last update: Saturday 25 March 2023 – 5:22 PM
A large asteroid is scheduled to approach between the Earth and the Moon during the coming hours, and astronomers believe that the magnitude of the asteroid, which they called the killer asteroid, would make it capable of destroying a city, but they confirmed that there was no danger of collision.
The large rock, named 2023 DZ2, was discovered only in late February.
The European Space Agency said the asteroid’s diameter is between 40 and 100 metres.
NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office wrote on Twitter that such flybys “only happen once per decade,” adding that the asteroid’s trajectory “safely” passes through Earth.
At its closest point to Earth, expected at 1950 GMT today, Saturday, the asteroid will be about 168,000 km away, according to the European Space Agency. In comparison, the Moon is 384,400 km from Earth.
The asteroid can be spotted using binoculars or a telescope if the sky is clear.
The head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency, Richard Moisel, said that there is no chance of this asteroid colliding with Earth, “but its close approach provides a great opportunity for observation.”
And the authority put the chance that the asteroid will hit the Earth during the next century at zero.
