An asteroid four times the size of the Empire State Building will approach it Land on May 27, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).
Do not be afraid: asteroidcalled 7335 (1989 JA), would lose our planet about 2.5 million miles (4 million km) – or roughly 10 times the average distance between Earth and Earth. moon. However, due to the enormous size of the space rock (1.1 miles, or 1.8 km in diameter) and its relatively close proximity to Earth, NASA has classified the asteroid as “potentially hazardous”, meaning it could cause serious damage to Earth. our planet if the orbit continues to change and the rocks affect our planet.
Related: What is the largest impact crater on Earth?
According to NASA, 7335 (1989 JA) is the largest asteroid to approach Earth this year. Scientists estimate that the asteroid is moving at about 47,200 mph (76,000 km/h), or 20 times faster than a bullet. The Rock will not conduct another close flyby until June 23, 2055, when it will pass this flyby further afield, or within 70 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.
This asteroid is one of more than 29,000 near-Earth objects (NEOs) that NASA tracks each year. NEO refers to any astronomical object that passes within about 30 million miles (48 million kilometers) of Earth’s orbit, according to NASA. Most of these things are very small; The agency says 7335 (1989 JA) measures larger than about 99% of near-Earth objects tracked by NASA.
7335 (1989 JA) also belongs to a class of asteroids called the Apollo class – which stands for The asteroid revolves around the sun as it transits periodically in Earth’s orbitDan Live Science previously reported. Astronomers know about 15,000 of these asteroids.
NASA monitors NEOs like this closely, and recently launched a mission to test whether a potentially dangerous asteroid could someday deviate from a collision course with Earth. In November 2021, NASA launched a spacecraft called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which will collide with the 525-foot-wide (160-meter) asteroid Demorphos at fall 2022. The collision will not destroy the asteroidbut may slightly alter the orbital path of the rock, Live Science previously reported.
Originally published in Live Science.
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