A giant 150-foot-wide asteroid is rushing towards Earth at tremendous speed. Should we be worried? NASA explains.
The earth Heave a sigh of relief when a giant asteroid 360 feet wide shot past Earth at extremely close distance yesterday! This asteroid named 2022 RB5 marks its closest approach at just 3.11 million miles. It is called a potentially hazardous asteroid because of its large size and uncomfortably close approach to Earth. However, the asteroid horror is still there! There’s another small planet named 2005 AZ28 is heading towards Earth at a speed of 19522 kilometers per hour. This asteroid is also a potentially dangerous object and it will arrive tomorrow.
But how NASA determine if the upcoming asteroid is dangerous to Earth? These huge rocks in space, called asteroids, often move around Sun, but can change their paths due to the gravity of the planets and even sometimes collide with them! To detect the horrors of these asteroids in advance, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is constantly monitoring all near-Earth objects in space.
An asteroid is thought to be potentially dangerous due to two factors – its distance from Earth and its size. NASA explains that any asteroid that occurs within 4.6 million miles or 7.5 million kilometers near Earth, or if it is larger than about 150 meters, it can be called an asteroid. potentially dangerous objects. So, does asteroid 2005 AZ28 pose any danger to Earth?
Dangerous asteroid 2005 AZ28
NASA has confirmed that Asteroid 2005 AZ28 is about 150 feet or 46 meters in size. But it is its close proximity to Earth that makes it a potential danger to Earth. NASA JPL data announced we that this space rock will come close to Earth 2.73 million miles. Therefore, NASA has listed it as a potentially dangerous asteroid.
Did the asteroid hit the Earth?
Of course they do! You must have heard stories about the infamous Chicxulub asteroid that caused great destruction on Earth about 66 million years ago. This is the asteroid that ended the era of the dinosaurs. In recent years, small asteroids have crashed to Earth, and some of the larger ones have caused major damage, as has the one in Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013. This asteroid has a size size from 17 million to 20 million. That’s why NASA actively monitors all small planet pose a threat to the Earth.
