TRIBUNJABAR.ID, WASHINGTON – An asteroid, considered potentially hazardous by NASA and comparable in size to a football field, is currently heading towards Earth.
The asteroid, named 2008 OS7, has a diameter of around 890 feet or 270 meters and is estimated to pass Earth at a safe distance of 1,770,000 miles at 14.41 (GMT) this Friday afternoon (February 2).
Even though the distance is close, there is no risk of collision with the earth.
NASA classifies an asteroid as potentially hazardous if its size exceeds about 460 feet (140 meters) and has an orbit that places it within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers) of Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
Dr Minjae Kim, Research Fellow in the Department of Physics, University of Warwick, said, “2008 OS7, a very small asteroid whose orbit intersects with Earth’s, has been classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA)”.
He added: “We don’t need to worry too much because this asteroid will not enter the Earth’s atmosphere, but will still approach the Earth. There are more than millions of asteroids in our solar system, and about 2,350 of them have been classified as PHA (Potentially Hazardous). The next significant approach to Earth by PHA will be 99942 Apophis on April 14, 2029.”
Asteroid 2008 OS7 completes an orbit around the sun every 962 days (2.63 Earth years).
The size of the Empire State Building
NASA says an asteroid the size of the Empire State Building will pass Earth on Friday.
A “potentially dangerous large asteroid” as wide as the Empire State Building will hurtle past Earth on Friday.
This asteroid, named 2008 OS7, is estimated to be between 690 and 1,570 feet across, according to data from NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).
The Eiffel Tower is about 980 feet tall, while the Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall.
This asteroid will pass Earth at a distance of about 0.01908 astronomical units or about 1.77 million miles.
For reference, the moon orbits at a distance of 240,000 miles, while our neighboring planet, Venus, is 38 million miles away at its closest point.
Source: Tribunnews
2024-02-01 03:33:46
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