This asteroid will cross the Earth March 21, height 3 times the Eiffel Tower

KOMPAS.com – US Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA) announce, asteroid the largest to pass through Earth this year will approach within 2 million kilometers on March 21, 2021.

Asteroid it is named 2001 F032. Its diameter is about 914 meters, about 3 times the Eiffel Tower, and was discovered 20 years ago.

NASA says this phenomenon will allow astronomers to see the asteroid up close.

“We know the 2001 FO32 orbital path around the Sun very acutely. There is no chance that asteorids will be closer to Earth, more than 2 million kilometers,” said Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies.

Also read: 6 Facts about Apophis asteroids that cross the earth, can hit the earth 195,000 years

Reported AFP, Thursday (11/3/2021), when the 2001 asteroid F032 was at its closest point to Earth – 2 million kilometers -, it was approximately 5.25 times the distance from Earth to the Moon.

This distance is close enough that the asteroid 2001 F032 is still classified as a potentially dangerous asteroid.

NASA says 2001 F032 will pass at a speed of 77,000 miles per hour. This is faster than the speed of most asteroids hitting Earth.

“Currently, little is known about this object. So its very close proximity (to Earth) provides a tremendous opportunity to learn a lot about this asteroid,” said Lance Benner, principal scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

NASA hopes that astronomers can gain a better understanding of the asteroid’s size and rough idea of ​​its composition by studying the light reflected from its surface.

“When sunlight hits the surface of the asteroid, the minerals in the rock absorb some wavelengths while reflecting on others,” NASA said.

“By studying the spectrum of light reflected from the surface, astronomers can measure the chemical ‘fingerprint’ of the minerals on the asteroid’s surface.”

Amateur astronomers in some parts of the world need to be able to make their own observations.

“The asteroid will become brightest as it moves through the southern sky, said Chodas.

“Amateur astronomers in the southern hemisphere and in low northern latitudes can spot this asteroid using a medium-sized telescope with a hole at least eight inches in the evening leading up to its closest approach, but they may need star charts to find it.”

Also read: Scientists were surprised to find water and organic matter in these asteroids

NASA says more than 95 percent of near-Earth asteroids measuring 2001 FO32 or greater have been cataloged and none of them have a chance of impacting our planet until the next century.

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