An enormous asteroid, the scale of a 210-foot yacht, is about to move Earth in simply days, NASA has warned.
The house rock – referred to as Asteroid 2024 LJ – is anticipated to journey at 66,584 miles per hour.
It should move throughout Earth on June 22 at a distance of two.1 million miles.
Astronomers say its journey is especially notable due to the rock’s dimension and its “alarmingly shut” proximity to Earth.
One other asteroid handed close to Earth at a velocity of roughly 50,000 kilometers per hour
Wikicommons
Nonetheless, 2024 LJ is being monitored and doesn’t pose a direct risk.
Though the phrase “alarmingly shut” is subjective given the vastness of house, any massive object passing near Earth requires cautious monitoring.
Scientists at NASA say they may intently monitor 2024 LJ to realize a broader understanding of those wandering planets.
The company’s Planetary Protection Coordination Workplace (PDCO) goals to find doubtlessly harmful asteroids.
Any comets that come inside 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit are tracked.
The newest developments:
The velocity of the house rock is greater than 80 instances quicker than the velocity of sound, which travels at about 767 miles per hour.
Astronomers say that the asteroid will fly close to Earth at a protected distance.
The occasion will present a “distinctive alternative” for scientists to review the asteroid’s formation, path and different traits.
Most near-Earth objects move with out incident.
The asteroid Demorphos was captured by NASA’s DART mission simply two seconds earlier than the spacecraft impacted its floor on September 26, 2022. Observations of the asteroid earlier than and after influence point out that it’s a loosely packed “rubble pile” object.
NASA
A current collision between big asteroids occurred within the close by star system Beta Picturis.
This technique, positioned simply 63 light-years from Earth, has lengthy intrigued astronomers due to its proximity and age.
Whereas our photo voltaic system is estimated to be about 4.5 billion years previous, Beta Picturis is taken into account a “teenage planetary system” at 20 million years previous.
