Potentially Hazardous Asteroid to pass Earth today, says NASA; Know how big it is

Asteroids are ancient space rocks floating in their orbits in space. However, sometimes they come dangerously close to a planet like Earth. This happens due to the interaction with a large planet’s gravitational field, which can send the tumbling towards a planet, raising a potential impact scenario. NASA and other space agencies use advanced space and ground-based telescopes to monitor asteroids and minimize the uncertainties around their close approaches. NASA has now shed light on an asteroid that is expected to pass Earth by a close margin today, February 14.

Also Read: What are asteroids and why do they come so frighteningly close to Earth?

Asteroid 2024 BR4: Details

The asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2024 BR4 by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), is travelling towards Earth in its orbit at a breathtaking speed of 44869 kilometers per hour, which is much faster than Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)!

It is just one of the 5 asteroids that have been predicted to pass by the planet today. NASA expects this space rock to fly past Earth at a close margin of approximately 4.6 million kilometers.

Is it dangerous?

This asteroid will pass by closely and has been termed as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid. Only celestial objects larger than 492 feet that pass Earth at a distance closer than 7.5 million kilometers are designated so. As per NASA, the asteroid is 570 feet wide, making it almost as big as a building! It is nearly 10 times bigger than the 59-foot asteroid that exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia, damaging 7000 buildings and injuring over 1000 people.

Asteroid 2024 BR4 belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are Earth-crossing space rocks with semi-major axes larger than Earth's. These asteroids are named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.

NASA has also revealed that Asteroid 2024 BR4 has passed Earth before. It first flew past the planet on February 4, 2009, at a distance of almost 26 million kilometers. NASA says that after today, this asteroid will come close again this year on December 14, and it will pass the planet by a distance of 70 million kilometers.

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