Giant Asteroid, Tower of Pisa-Sized, to Safely Whiz Past earth Next Week
Get ready for a celestial close encounter! NASA has confirmed that an asteroid, roughly the size of Italy’s iconic Leaning Tower of Pisa, will be making a relatively close pass by Earth next Monday, July 28th. while the news might sound alarming,experts assure us there’s no cause for concern.
The space rock, designated 2025 OW, measures approximately 67 meters (220 feet) in diameter. For perspective, the famous Tower of Pisa stands at 55.86 meters (183 feet) tall. This remarkable celestial body is a rocky remnant from the early days of our solar system’s formation.
According to NASA, 2025 OW will pass our planet at a minimum distance of 633,000 kilometers (393,300 miles). To put that into context, that’s more than 1.6 times the distance to the Moon. The asteroid will be traveling at a relative speed of 20.97 km/s (about 46,900 mph) with respect to Earth.
Why isn’t it considered “potentially dangerous”? NASA defines a potentially dangerous asteroid as one whose trajectory brings it within 7.5 million kilometers (4.6 million miles) of Earth’s orbit and measures at least 140 meters (460 feet) in diameter.While 2025 OW’s close approach meets the distance criteria,its size is roughly half of the threshold NASA uses for its “potentially dangerous” classification.
“This possibility of approaching Earth does not mean that a PHA (potentially dangerous asteroid) will impact the Earth,” NASA clarifies on its website. “It onyl means that there is a possibility of such a threat.”
The 2025 OW asteroid was first discovered on July 21st by the Pan-Starrs 2 probe. Interestingly, this same asteroid made a similar approach to Earth on July 28th of last year, though it was at a more distant 1.9 million kilometers (1.2 million miles).
What does this mean for us? For the average person, this event will be fully unobservable without specialized equipment. Though, it serves as a interesting reminder of the dynamic nature of our solar system and the ongoing work of space agencies like NASA in tracking and understanding the objects that share our cosmic neighborhood.
Stay tuned to World Today News for more updates on space exploration and celestial events!