Skyscraper-sized asteroid to buzz Earth today! NASA Tracks Impending Earth Flyby

[ad_1]

NASA telescopes this kind of as the Pans-STARRS1 found in Maui, Hawaii, and the Catalina Sky Survey situated in the vicinity of Tucson, Arizona, have done surveys that have detected numerous in close proximity to-Earth objects like asteroids. Moreover, NEOWISE, NASA’s area-primarily based observatory, has identified hundreds of asteroids by scanning the skies with in close proximity to-infrared wavelengths of light from its orbit all around Earth’s poles. To gather exact facts about an asteroid’s trajectory and attributes, NASA employs its ground-based mostly radar.

Working with this kind of state-of-the-art technologies, NASA has a short while ago found out one more asteroid that could likely appear shut to Earth as early as nowadays.

Asteroid 2006 BE55

NASA has issued a warning about a particular asteroid called Asteroid 2006 BE55, as it will be approaching very close to Earth. The asteroid is presently touring at a pace of almost 47966 kilometers per hour and is set to make its closest technique to Earth these days, February 28, at a distance of 3.5 million kilometers for every hour.

NASA and other room agencies are fearful about the probable effects of Asteroid 2006 BE55 mainly because of its significant dimension. Measuring close to 450 ft in width, the asteroid is around the identical measurement as a skyscraper. If it ended up to collide with Earth, primarily in a densely populated region, it could result in significant hurt to equally life and residence. Nevertheless, the chances of that occurring are even significantly less than negligible to none, as considerably as this asteroid is worried.

Significance of studying asteroids

Experts examine asteroids to find out far more about the early solar procedure and the circumstances that existed when the planets were being forming. Asteroids can also present valuable methods such as h2o, metals, and other minerals. A person these discovery was created by researching an asteroid.

Till now, it was considered that water was previously existing on Earth from earliest occasions. However, a current study has designed an astonishing discovery that puts this very thought into question. The review has discovered that h2o may perhaps have originated on asteroids.

[ad_2]

Supply backlink Today marks an extraordinary event, as an asteroid the size of a skyscraper is expected to fly within a dangerously close proximity to Earth – about 200,000 miles. The asteroid, named 2020 QG, is estimated to be around 100 feet in diameter and will come closer to our planet than most of the other asteroids known to exist within our solar system.

NASA has observed 2020 QG since they first detected it on August 16th, 2020, but the asteroid has only just recently been classified as a Near-Earth Object after passing Mars earlier this month. According to senior NASA Planetary Defense Officer Lindley Johnson, this asteroid is just passing by Earth and is not considered an impact hazard. Johnson reassures the public that these asteroid flybys occur frequently and NASA has been tracking them for over 20 years. 2020 QG is a special occasion, since its size and proximity to Earth are larger and closer than most asteroids that we have encountered in the recent past.

In what will be a once-in-a-lifetime event, 2020 QG is set to make its closest approach at 6:19 P.M. (EDT) today. While its closest approach will be closer than the moon, its size still gives room to remain cautiously optimistic. Even if 2020 QG were to make contact with Earth, the asteroid is only travelling at a speed of around 18,000 km/h (or 11,184 mph) and would lose almost all of its energy in Earth’s atmosphere.

Forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes, so it is always useful for us to be cognizant of the objects that fly past our planet. While 2020 QG poses no threat to Earth this time around, if it were to approach closer on a future flyby, more time would be needed to prepare for that eventuality. We can all use the opportunity of 2020 QG’s flyby to remind ourselves of the importance of tracking objects that move through our vicinity.

The post-flyby event will also serve as an opportunity for scientists to monitor the asteroid as it moves out of our solar system. This will provide us with an opportunity to further understand the behavior of asteroids, better protecting us in the future.

In the end, 2020 QG’s flyby will be a once-in-a-lifetime event that sends a reminder to us all that the universe is expansive and beautiful, but also potentially dangerous. We can all take a moment to observe the asteroid as it makes its pass and consider how much more there still is to discover in the depths of space.