NASA asteroid watch: Space rock hurtling towards Earth! Planet in peril?

Another day means another dangerous asteroid flyby. But, by no means should you ignore these asteroid warnings as they could potentially save your life one day in case of an asteroid impact. NASA has issued a warning as it will pass by the planet extremely closely and has been classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object. So, should you be worried about this asteroid?

Key details about Asteroid 2022 UA

NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office is responsible for monitoring the skies and keeping a watch on various Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). If any NEO comes within 8 million kilometers of Earth, the organization red flags the NEO and issues an alert. The organization has red-flagged an asteroid named Asteroid 2022 UA due to its potential extremely close approach with the Earth. The asteroid is dangerously heading for Earth on October 19. NASA has warned that Asteroid 2022 UA is 45 feet wide, which is nearly the size of a house.

Asteroid 2022 UA is already on its way towards Earth travelling at a staggering speed of 47052 kilometers per hour and will just miss the planet. The asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at a distance of just 3.3 million kilometers, according to NASA.

Did you know?

A team of international researchers identified the impact sites of asteroids using CSI crime solving techniques. According to the research, only 30 percent of Holocene asteroid impact craters have been identified in the last 11,650 years. The researchers used charcoal samples from crater sites to identify the asteroid impact.

A recent article published in Geological Society of America's journal Geology explains that the bodies of organisms which died due to the asteroid impact can be analyzed to find out the extent of damage caused by the asteroid impact. By studying how an organism died, researchers can find out the conditions in which they were killed, which reflects the properties of an asteroid.