A new astronomical phenomenon is taking place on the Earth next Friday, where a small asteroid called 2020 XX3 with a diameter of 7 meters will pass at a distance of 57,148 kilometers, and move at a speed of 5.92 kilometers per second at 09:47 AM Saudi time, but will not pose a threat to our planet.
The Astronomical Society in Jeddah clarifies the details of the asteroid transit XX3 2020
Engineer Majed Abu Zahra, president of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, said that the asteroid was discovered by the Panoramic Survey Telescope and the Rapid Response System, Pan Stars on the tenth of December in Hawaii, adding that the asteroid is very small compared to other asteroids and it belongs to the Apollo asteroids group.
Abu Zahra added, “If it is on a collision course, it will become a fireball while it crashes into the top of the Earth’s atmosphere, which happens several times a year, according to some estimates, there are hundreds of millions of small asteroids of the size of 2020 XX3, but it is very difficult to detect them.” Until very close to Earth, and in general the vast majority of it passes safely at much greater distances, usually much farther from the moon. ”He explained that finding asteroids of this size is an achievement because of their speed.
It is not the first asteroid that approaches Earth … there are those who preceded it
Abu Zahra added that the emergence of these asteroids is a great opportunity to discover their composition, as they are like a time machine, and they contain many secrets of that era, thus revealing to us the mysteries of our planet’s origin. A real threat in the future.
It is reported that this is asteroid No. 102, which has approached the Earth with a distance of 384,401 km since the beginning of 2020 and the seventh asteroid in that month.
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