Although most asteroids are found in the belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, known as the asteroid belt, that doesn’t mean they’ve never come close to Earth. In fact, a number of large space rocks have advanced to Earth in the past and impacted the surface. Just yesterday, two asteroids, 110 feet wide and 77 feet wide, respectively, came close to Earth.
NASA keeps an eye on others small planet is set to come close to the planet today.
Details of asteroid 2023 GG
Asteroid named Asteroid 2023 GG will make closest approach to Earth today, April 11. This space rock will approach the nearest planet at a distance of just 1.5 million kilometers, according to NASA. It is moving towards Earth at a dizzying speed of 38007 km/h.
What is of concern is the size of the asteroid. According to NASA, Asteroid 2023 GG is nearly 240 feet wide, making it roughly the size of one Boeing airplanes plane 747!
More details
According to NASA, asteroid 2023 GG belongs to the Apollo asteroid group, a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the giant asteroid 1862 Apollo, discovered in the years by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth. 1930. The Apollo asteroids are Earth-passing space rocks whose semi-major axis is larger than Earth’s.
According to the-sky.org, it was discovered just a few days ago on April 5 and took just 446 days to complete one orbit around the Sun. During this trip, its greatest distance to the Sun was 204 million km and the closest distance was 138 million km.
What is NASA doing to find potentially dangerous asteroids?
NASA has put to use the latest technology available. The Agency has established a Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), which is managed in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. . PDCO ensures early detection of potentially hazardous objects (PHOs) – asteroids and comets whose orbits are predicted to bring them within 0.05 Earth Astronomical Units ( 5 million miles or 8 million km) and is large enough to reach the Earth’s surface – that is, about 30 to 50 meters larger.
NASA tracks and characterizes these objects and issues warnings about potential impacts, providing timely and accurate information.
