A small asteroid the size of a bus will approach very close to Earth on Thursday (July 7), going only 90,000 kilometers (56,000 miles), or about 23 percent of the average distance between Earth. and the Moon. And just a few days ago, no one knew it would come
The asteroid, called 2022 NF, is expected to pass safely through our planet, according to calculations by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Astronomers discovered the stealthy asteroid using data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS), a Hawaii-based system of cameras and telescopes with the primary goal of detecting near-Earth or NEO objects.
On July 4, the researchers identified the object and calculated its approximate size and trajectory, estimating that the space rock measured between 18 and 41 feet wide (5.5 meters and 12.5 meters) at its height. longer dimension.
Related: Why do asteroids have such strange shapes?
Due to its small size, 2022 NF does not meet NASA’s criteria for a “potentially dangerous asteroid,” which must generally be at least 460 feet (140 meters) long and reach 4.6 million. miles (7.5 million km) from Earth, according to Live Science’s sister site, Space.com.
Although the newly detected asteroid will sail far within this distance, it is too small to be considered an existential threat to Earth.
Although the asteroid is approaching Earth on July 7, it will be visible to some telescopes starting Wednesday (July 6); the Virtual Telescope Project will broadcast live the flyby of the asteroid from its telescope in Rome, from 16:00 EDT (08:00 UTC).
You can join by clicking on the Virtual Telescope Project website here.
NASA and other space agencies closely monitor thousands of NEOs like this. They rarely pose a threat to Earth, but some large asteroids could be dangerous if their trajectories changed.
In November 2021, NASA launched an asteroid deflection spacecraft called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which will collide head-on with the 525-foot-wide (160 m) asteroid Dimorphos in the fall of 2022.
The collision will not destroy the asteroid, but it may slightly change the orbital trajectory of the space rock, Live Science previously reported. The mission will help test the feasibility of the asteroid’s deviation, if any future asteroid poses an imminent threat to our planet.
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This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.