Jakarta –
NASA warn there will be two asteroid that will approach Earth next month. But there is no need to worry because the two of them will pass a safe distance and will not harm the Earth.
The first asteroid to pass will be 4660 Nereus. This asteroid was first discovered in 1982 and has a diameter of about 330 meters, equivalent to the height of the Eiffel Tower.
According to monitoring NASA, this asteroid will approach Earth on December 11, 2021. When it passes, asteroid 4660 Nereus will approach Earth at a distance of 3.9 million km or 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon, so there is no need to worry.
Asteroid 4660 Nereus is classified as an Apollo asteroid because it passes Earth closely as it orbits the Sun. NASA also classifies asteroid 4660 Nereus as a potentially dangerous object (potentially hazardous object) because at the closest position the distance to Earth is less than 7.5 million km.
Astronomers predict asteroid 4660 Nereus will return to Earth in March 2031. After that asteroid it will again approach in 2050 and 2060.
A few days after asteroid 4660 Nereus passes, Earth will be approached by asteroid (163899) 2003 SD220. The asteroid with a diameter of 800 meters will pass Earth on 17 December.
Currently asteroid 2003 SD220 is at a distance of 21 million km from Earth. At its closest point, this asteroid will approach up to 5.4 million km from Earth or about 14 times the distance between Earth and the Moon, as quoted from BGR, Sunday (11/21/2021).
Interestingly, the asteroid 2003 SD220 is one of the asteroids that NASA is aiming for as a target for sending space missions. But there are currently no plans to send missions to asteroid 2003 SD220.
NASA itself will launch a test mission called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) on November 23 tomorrow. This mission will crash a spacecraft into the asteroid Dydymos in order to test methods of deflecting a dangerous asteroid.
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