Asteroid 2008 GO20 Is Near Earth, Speeds 18000 MPH

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Asteroid 2008 GO20 traveling at 18000 mph is close to Earth. This Apollo group space rock has a diameter between 92 and 206 meters. The team discovered this asteroid on April 09, 2008.

The asteroid should not pass Earth more than 0.028 au (10.9 Moon distance or 2,605,509 miles). So, we don’t need to worry, because it will not harm the Earth (the Moon is 238,606 miles from Earth).

However, the asteroid is classified by NASA as a Near-Earth Object (NEO). Because its orbit is close to Earth and can even pass 0.018 au (1,673,204.5 miles).

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Asteroid Object 2008 GO20, Velocity 1800 MPH

The asteroid makes an orbit around the Sun in 951 days. At this time, the asteroid is moving away from the Sun at a maximum distance of 422 million kilometers. Then approach it at a minimum distance of 144 million kilometers.

Launching the-sky.org, the interactive diagram shows the calculation of the orbit of asteroid 2008 GO20 in the solar system. Then its position is relative to the Sun, Earth, and other planets.

According to NASA, NEO generally has a definition as an asteroid or comet. Then approach our planet less than 1.3 times the distance of Earth to the Sun (93 million miles).

NEO poses no danger at all. It is this small percentage of potentially hazardous asteroids that attracts extra scrutiny. These objects are defined as objects that approach Earth at a distance of less than half the distance between our planet and the Sun.

Asteroid Approach to Earth

Our planet should be safe from asteroids 2008 GO20, 2021 NE, 2019 AT6, 2019 NB7, and 2014 BP43. All of these asteroids will pass Earth on the afternoon of July 24 at 19:13. At a distance of 4.91 million kilometers at a speed of 8 kilometers per second.

The space rock trajectory has been calculated by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). NASA has tracked and confirmed that GO20 will be close enough to pass it. It is classified as a close approach.

However, the good news is that the asteroid will pose no threat to Earth. The asteroid’s next close approach will occur on July 26, 2034. On that day, the asteroid’s distance to Earth is 4.54 million kilometers.

The reason is, past asteroid collisions have been responsible for one of the seven planetary mass extinctions. So that astronomers continue to monitor the night sky.

NASA says that as the asteroid orbits the sun, NEO sometimes approaches Earth. The near path can automatically be very far, the human term is millions or tens of millions of kilometers.

In this case, asteroid 2008 GO20 will pass Earth at close range, but still be safe 0.03283 astronomer units. One unit marks the average distance from Earth to the Sun of about 93 million miles. Therefore, the asteroid will pass almost unnoticed from a distance of more than 3.05 million miles and more than 12 times the distance to the Moon.

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Asteroid Brightness in the Sky

The apparent brightness dynamics of asteroid 2008 GO20 depends on the magnitude of the star. For the dynamics of the number of minutes per day when the asteroid will be in the sky on a given day, namely before sunrise and after sunset.

When watching this asteroid fly by, it has a fairly large object. The size of this asteroid is comparable to some of London’s iconic landmarks.

NASA estimates show the size of an asteroid somewhere ranges from 302 to 688 feet. The 2008 GO20 asteroid is about twice as large as the Big Ben clock tower in Westminster.

This asteroid flies through space at a speed of about 8.18 km per second or 18000 mph. As far as scientists know, there are no asteroids or comets that threaten the safety of our planet. This holds true for now or in the next few hundred years.

However, a small object will occasionally escape our radar and crash into Earth’s atmosphere. A surprising case of a small asteroid is the Chelyabinsk event of 2013.

A space bolt the size of a house entered the sky over Russia’s Chelyabinsk Oblast, then exploded before hitting the ground.

At that time, no one saw the space stone. This is because space rocks are coming toward Earth from the Sun. When the asteroid explodes, it creates a blinding flash within a radius of 200 square miles.

Meanwhile, the asteroid 2008 GO20 is close enough to pass Earth, but does not pose a threat. Its trajectory has been calculated by CNEOS at NASA. (R10/HR Online)

Publisher: Jujang

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