NASA has issued a warning about a fast-moving asteroid approaching Earth today. Guess its speed, distance and more.
Although one or two asteroids usually fly past Earth each day, no less than 4 asteroids made close approaches to Earth yesterday! Another asteroid is headed for Earth today, and it’s a big one. This asteroid has enormous destructive potential due to its large size and speed, and could potentially cause destruction if it deviated slightly from its path. To track such asteroids, NASA uses its redesigned NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to operate as a survey telescope and scan the sky for near-Earth objects. The space agency then used its ground-based radar to gather precise data about the asteroid’s path and its characteristics.
Key details about asteroid 2022 UN21
NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office has issued a warning against an asteroid named Asteroid 2022 UN21. The 56-foot-wide asteroid is expected to fly past Earth today, November 7, at a distance of 3 million kilometers. The asteroid is already on its way to Earth, moving at a staggering speed of 41,940 kilometers per hour, which is much faster than a rocket!
According to the-sky.org, asteroid 2022 UN21 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It was opened just days ago on October 28th. This asteroid takes 868 days to make one trip around the Sun, during which its maximum distance from the Sun is 400 million kilometers and its closest distance is 133 million kilometers.
NASA’s Asteroid Observation and Categorization Program
NASA established the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), managed by the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. PDCO ensures the early detection of potentially hazardous objects (PHOs) – asteroids and comets whose orbits are expected to bring them within 0.05 AU (5 million miles or 8 million kilometers) of Earth and of a size large enough to to reach the earth’s surface – that is, greater than approximately 30 to 50 meters.
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