Asteroid threat looming over Earth! NASA clocks it at a speedy 23328 kmph

NASA, with the help of its various space and ground-based telescopes, has discovered a huge asteroid heading dangerously towards Earth today. This particular asteroid has caused a panic among space agencies as it was discovered just 10 days ago on October 18. It is hurtling towards the planet at blistering speed. Although this asteroid does not pose any viable threat to Earth and will pass the planet safely, it was still classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid due to the close proximity of its encounter with Earth.

Details about Asteroid 2022 UD3

Asteroid 2022 UD3 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. The space rock takes just 507 days to complete one orbit around the Sun, according to the-sky.org. Its maximum distance from the Sun during this orbit is 231 million kilometers and minimum distance is 141 million kilometers.

Asteroid 2022 UD3 is hurtling towards Earth today, October 28, at a blistering speed of 23328 kilometers per hour! For comparison, NASA's Apollo 10 spacecraft travelled at a speed of nearly 39021 kilometers per hour during its Moon mission in 1969. 

The asteroid will make its closest approach to the Earth at a distance of 3.2 million kilometers. Therefore, this asteroid is not expected to impact Earth but it could change with a slight deviation in its path due to interaction with the Earth’s gravitational field. It could change its trajectory and send it hurtling towards the Earth for surface impact.

How is an Asteroid Orbit Calculated?

An asteroid's orbit is computed by finding the elliptical path about the sun that best fits the available observations of the object using various space and ground-based telescopes such as NASA’s NEOWISE telescope and its brand-new Sentry II algorithm. That is, the object's computed path about the sun is adjusted until the predictions of where the asteroid should have appeared in the sky at several observed times match the positions where the object was actually observed to be at those same time.