A giant asteroid the size of a stadium is potentially dangerous to Earth, here are the facts

Harianjogja.com, JAKARTA – On Saturday (24/7/2021) today, a large asteroid is expected to fly safely past planet Earth.

The asteroid, named 2008 GO20″, is estimated to be about 200 meters long, larger than a football field.

According to NASA’s forecasts, it will fly past Earth at a speed of 8.2 km per second and will be about three to four million kilometers from our planet. This is almost eight to nine times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

The last visit by GO20 2008 was on 20 June 2008, and is expected to pass again on 25 July 2034.

Here are the facts about the asteroid which is said to be potentially dangerous:

1. This asteroid falls into the NEO category of near -earth objects

According to NASA, NEOs are asteroids and comets that are approaching Earth. The majority of these NEOs are asteroids and are called Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). The NEA is further subdivided into Atira, Aten, Apollo and Amor depending on their distance and axes.

2008 GO20 classified as Apollo NEO. Apollos have orbits near our Earth and are also called Earth crossings because they cross Earth’s orbit. They are named after the asteroid Apollo 1862.

2. Is 2008 GO20 a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)?

Near -Earth asteroids that fly below 0.05 astronomical units or 7.5 million km away are referred to as Potentially Dangerous Asteroids. Since 2008 the GO20 will fly at a range of 0.02 to 0.03 au, that is the PHA. An astronomical unit is about 150 million km or about the distance between the Earth and the Sun.

3. Is this a rare event?

Not. According to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, on July 21, six NEOs are expected to fly past Earth at a distance of less than 0.05 au.
Explained |Why the asteroid Apophis won’t hit Earth for at least 100 years

Following the GO20 2008 visit on July 24, NEOs named 2021 OF, 2020 BW12 and 2019 YM6 are expected to fly near Earth on July 26, July 27, and July 31.

Source: JIBI/Bisnis.com

– .