Asteroid the size of a bus will approach Earth in early 2022, is it dangerous?

Writer: Arif Budianto

KONTAN.CO.ID – An asteroid the size of Bus will approach Earth in 2022. Is it dangerous? The asteroid, named 2014 YE15, is predicted to be at its closest approach to Earth in the first week of 2022.

Early in 2022, it looks like Earth will have guests who may just pass by. The asteroid named 2014 YE15 stretches about 42 feet (about 12 meters).

When compared to a vehicle, the asteroid is roughly the same as a Bus. When compared with animals, this asteroid is approximately twice as tall as animals with long necks or what we know as giraffes.

Quote from Inverse, this asteroid is relatively small compared to other asteroids that regularly visit Earth before. Last month, it was discovered that an asteroid as tall as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai slid past Earth.

Speaking of asteroid 2014 YE15, it has its closest approach to Earth on January 6, 2021. Its closest distance to Earth is 4,600,000 miles or about 19 times the distance between Earth and Moon, which is 239,000 miles.

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Asteroid 2014 YE15 is part of a group known as asteroid Aten. This is a group of asteroids orbiting the Sun between Earth and Mercury.

One of these celestial bodies was first identified on Mt. Lemmon Observatory, United States during a survey of near-Earth objects in 2014 according to the Minor Planet Center. Asteroid 2014 YE15 was discovered on December 28 of the same year, just two days before it was three times the Earth-Moon distance.

Is this 2014 YE15 asteroid that will pass Earth at its closest distance dangerous?

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NASA has compiled a list of asteroids circling the Solar System and calculated the probability of a collision with Earth for each asteroid over the next 100 years.

If an asteroid comes within 4.6 million miles, and is larger by about 150 meters, it is considered a potentially dangerous object according to NASA. Nevertheless, the size of the asteroid 2014 is not considered a dangerous object and at its current distance does not pose a threat to our planet.