A huge “potentially dangerous” asteroid twice as large as the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, will pass by Earth next month, NASA reveals
- The asteroid – 231937 (2001 FO32) – was first discovered by astronomers in 2001
- It will be about 1.2 million miles from Earth at its closest approach in March
- It is about five times farther than the Moon, but is still classified as risky
- The rock travels around the Sun every 2.22 years on Earth at about 77,000 mph
- Potentially dangerous is any large asteroid that is less than 4.5 million miles from Earth and “could” hit the planet at some point in the future of the solar system.
A massive asteroid a mile wide twice the tallest building in the world will “pass” past Earth in March and has been named “potentially dangerous” by NASA.
The asteroid, named 231937 (2001 FO32), is unlikely to hit Earth because it will be 1.2 million miles from the planet – five times farther than the Moon.
However, NASA prevents any space rock that is less than 93 million miles from us as an “object close to Earth,” which is three-quarters of a distance of 120 million miles to Mars.
The mile wide with half a mile of space rock will make the closest approach to our planet at about 16:03 GMT on March 21, 2021 and was labeled as “potentially dangerous” because it could “touch the planet at some point.” the future of the solar system.
Asteroid 231937 is the largest spacecraft that has “approached” the Earth this year and at 1.7 km is more than twice as tall as the tallest building on Earth – Burj Khalifa.
It should be possible to see the asteroid through an eight-inch telescope just after sunset on March 21, looking slightly above the southern horizon.
Asteroid 231937 is the largest space rock that has “approached” the Earth this year and at 1.7 km is more than twice as tall as the tallest building on Earth – Burj Khalifa
NASA prevents any spacecraft that is less than 93 million miles from us an “object near Earth” that is three-quarters of a distance of 120 million miles from Mars
The asteroid was first detected in 2001 by a series of telescopes in New Mexico that are part of the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program.
The MIT project is funded by the US Air Force and NASA and detected the space rock on March 23, 2001 and has been under observation ever since.
Using these observations, astronomers calculated their orbit, discovered how close it would get to Earth, and determined that it would go at 77,000 mph.
SpaceReference.org wrote about the asteroid: “Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, the 2001 FO32 probably has a diameter of 0.767 to 1.714 kilometers, making it larger than ~ 97% of asteroids, but small in size. compared to large asteroids. ”
The asteroid and Earth are seen to the left of this orbital map on the “blue” orbital line of the Earth – the asteroid’s orbit is visible through the high white lines
It should be possible to see the asteroid through an eight-inch telescope just after sunset on March 21, looking slightly above the southern horizon. The pink dot is the asteroid and the lighter area is the visible sky in the UK on March 21 after sunset
You may see the space rock as it passes over the planet in March if you have a telescope with an aperture of at least eight centimeters.
The asteroid will be low in the southern sky, so it may be difficult to observe from the northern hemisphere, according to EarthSky.org.
To find it, it shows just above the horizon, in the southern sky, it will slide through the southern constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius.
It will be visible just above the horizon in the southern sky, just after sunset, if viewed from the UK and even before dawn, if seen from the southern US.
NASA is closely monitoring all asteroids near Earth to determine if any of them could be close to hitting the planet.
A massive asteroid twice as wide as the world’s tallest building – Burj Khalifa (center image) – will “pass” past Earth in March
It is a broad definition – covering any object about 93 million miles from Earth – the so-called “dangerous” ones are 4.6 million miles wide and at least 500 meters wide.
Currently, there are no asteroids that pose a significant risk to life on Earth for at least the next century, according to NASA, with only one with a 0.2% chance of hitting the planet in 2185.
Meanwhile, space agencies around the world are investigating potential solutions to divert a future asteroid from hitting Earth.
NASA has analyzed the use of gravity from a flying spaceship to “shoot an asteroid” on a new trajectory.
Astronomers hunt asteroids larger than 450 ft because they can cause “catastrophic damage”
Researchers have discovered most asteroids that are about a kilometer in size, but are now looking for those that are about 140 m long – because they could cause catastrophic damage.
Although no one knows when the next big impact will take place, scientists have found themselves under pressure to predict – and intercept – its arrival.
Illustrated artist’s impression
“Sooner or later we will have … a minor or major impact,” said Rolf Densing, who heads the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt.
It may not happen in our lives, he said, but “the risk of the Earth being hit in a devastating event one day is very high.”
“For now, we can do a little.”
Source: AFP