The massive asteroid 2022 AA has been detected moving closer to Earth. The space rock is predicted to pass in early February 2022.
According to estimates, the diameter of the giant asteroid reaches 42 meters. An amateur astronaut, Ma’rufin Sudibyo explained that this asteroid has been detected since January 1, 2022.
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Large Asteroid Object 2022 AA Near Earth
A space rock or asteroid will return past Earth. This asteroid was successfully detected through the Purple Mountain Observatory facility in Xu Yi, China.
“All sky surveillance systems in all corners of the world from Europe to Latin America have confirmed this asteroid,” said Ma’rufin Sudibyo.
He also added that this asteroid belongs to the Apollo class near-Earth asteroid. This asteroid revolves around the sun once every 1.46 years.
Because of this, giant asteroids can have orbits that intersect with Earth’s orbit.
A scientist from Pusainassa National Aeronautics and Space Institute (LAPAN) named Andi Pangerang explained that this asteroid has an average distance to the sun of about 192.6 million km.
That distance is much greater than the average Earth to the Sun, which is only 149.6 million km. Even so, the perihelion of this large asteroid reaches 143.8 million km or smaller than Earth’s which reaches 12.1 million km.
Predictions regarding the time of the asteroid’s passage are in early February 2022. The exact date is February 4 at 21.16 UT or February 5 at 04.16 WIB.
The distance of the large asteroid 2022 AA when it crosses is about 2,542,000 km from Earth. A large asteroid will also be traveling very fast reaching 13,200 km per hour.
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Not Causing Disaster
Although the size of the asteroid 2022 is not too large, many people are still worried about its proximity to Earth. The nightmare of a catastrophic collision is what they fear.
Astronomers think that a large asteroid that will pass is not considered dangerous. Dangerous in the sense of potentially colliding with Earth or dropping debris.
This is because the trajectory distance is greater than the roche limit or the existing minimum distance.
The minimum distance or roche is indeed a reference to the minimum distance of a spacecraft approaching the Earth.
If the distance is past the roche, then the object has the potential to shatter into pieces. Because, the force that space objects have is the same as Earth’s gravity.
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If they touch, they will not hold on and break. Those pieces that could have entered the Earth and caused a disaster.
Although this modeling limit only applies to the next century, at least for now it can be confirmed that the large asteroid 2022 is not dangerous for life on Earth.
Thus, astronomers urge that there is no need for excessive panic in the community. It has a wide angle of 5.76 milliseconds of arc, making this asteroid invisible to the naked eye.
The passage of the large asteroid 2022 AA will be watched by scientists through a telescope with a large lens more than 25 cm. (R10/HR-Online)
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