Asteroid a large size with a diameter of 1.8 kilometers will glide and lead to Earth tomorrow, Friday (27/5). Although it will not hit Earth, but the object outer space this one is considered dangerous.
The asteroid, known as 7335 (1989 JA), will be about 2.5 million miles or 4 million kilometers from Earth. This distance is almost 10 times the average distance between Earth and the moon.
NASA classified the asteroid as ‘potentially hazardous’. This means that if its orbit changes and hits Earth, the asteroid can cause major damage.
This asteroid is one of at least 29,000 near-Earth objects (NEOs) that NASA tracks every year. NEO refers to any astronomical object that passes within about 30 million miles (48 million km) of Earth’s orbit, according to NASA.
The best time to see asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) through a telescope is two nights before its close pass to Earth, when the space rock is reflecting sunlight more efficiently.
On May 25, asteroid 7335 will appear brighter and still at an observable altitude above the southern horizon.
Live Science says most of these celestial bodies are very small, while asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) is larger than about 99 percent of the NEOs NASA is following.
Asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) also belongs to a class of asteroids called Apollo. There are about 15 thousand such asteroids.
Arrival 7335 (1989 JA) is the closest to Earth. This condition is said to be happening again in the next 200 years.
Big Asteroid Approaching Earth This Year
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Illustration. A number of large asteroids are also approaching Earth in 2022. (iStockphoto)- – |
According to NASA, 7335 (1989 JA) is the largest asteroid to make an approach to Earth this year. Asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) orbits the Sun every 2.35 years.
Scientists estimate the asteroid is moving at about 47,200 mph (76,000 km/h) or 20 times faster than a bullet.
The space rock won’t make a flyby or fly closer to Earth again until June 23, 2055. During that time, the asreriod will be about 70 times the distance between Earth and the moon.
Earthsky reported, in 2013, a large asteroid called Chelyabinsk entered Earth’s atmosphere and shattered windows in six cities in Russia.
NASA is monitoring NEO closely, and recently launched a mission to test whether a potentially dangerous asteroid could someday be deflected off course to prevent a collision with Earth.
In November 2021, NASA launched a spacecraft called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which will collide head-on with the 525-foot-wide (160-meter) asteroid Dimorphos in the fall of 2022.
The collision will not destroy the asteroid, but may slightly change its orbital path.
(ryh/asr)
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