Generally, asteroids don’t come as close to Earth as this recently discovered space rock.
A new asteroid that scientists discovered on Monday, March 13, will soon be at an incredibly close distance from Earth. It’s about the same size as the one that exploded in Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013. Then it was an unexpected event that could theoretically happen again, writes Forbes.
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A large number of asteroids, not yet known to scientists, are flying near Earth. It could be thousands or even tens of thousands. They all have a different size, but such space rocks are considered potentially dangerous if they approach Earth at a distance of less than 7.5 million km. Of course, not all of them have such a classification, only those with a width of about 140 meters.
But even a small asteroid can suddenly change its flight path and crash into the Earth’s atmosphere and either burn completely inside or fall apart into pieces. The real surprise for scientists was that in 2013 an asteroid fell over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk and then exploded in the atmosphere. The asteroid of about the same size, designated 2023 EY, was discovered by scientists from NASA a few days ago, more precisely, on Monday, March 13.
According to scientists, an asteroid about 17 meters wide should pass near Earth on Friday, March 17. But the most important thing here is not the size of this asteroid, but its proximity to Earth, that is, the distance it will be during its unpredictable flight.
Although NASA scientists are confident that no asteroids will fall on Earth, the distance of 240 thousand kilometers from the planet is still alarming. Basically, asteroids don’t fly very close to Earth. Therefore, in any case, the space rock 2023 EY is considered potentially dangerous.
By space standards, the distance of 240 thousand km is very small and corresponds to almost half the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Scientists have determined that the new asteroid belongs to the Apollo class, and that such stones often pass through Earth’s orbit, orbiting the Sun as it approaches Earth.
But not only should the newly discovered asteroid pass near Earth on Friday, March 17. As Focus previously wrote, a space rock more than 140 meters wide named 2018 UQ1 should also approach the planet today. But the asteroid will be almost 20 times further from 2023 EY – 4.1 million km away.
But the asteroid’s approach to Earth this week won’t end there. A 14-foot-tall rock named 2016 WH should fly past Earth on Sunday, March 19, according to NASA. But it will be far away – about 7 million km from us, as I wrote earlier Focus.
If earlier Ceres was considered the largest asteroid in the solar system, then after it was reclassified as a dwarf planet, the asteroid Vesta began to receive this title. The width of this stone is an impressive 525 km. About which asteroid is the smallest Focus already wrote
Moreover Focus He wrote that scientists predict that a 50-meter-wide asteroid may fall to Earth in the near future. Although the probability of this happening is not big enough to panic, it still exists.
Source: Focus
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.