150-foot asteroid to come as close as 5.8 mn km today, reveals NASA

NASA has revealed details of an upcoming close encounter with an asteroid designated Asteroid 2023 TO15 that will pass the planet closely today, November 6. Know details such as its speed, distance of approach, size, and more.

Asteroid 2023 TO15 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. (Pixabay)

Did you know that you can see the asteroid sample collected by NASA up close? The NASA OSIRIS-REx spacecraft recently concluded a historic mission that involved landing on an asteroid, taking rock and dust samples, and delivering them back to Earth. Although NASA had initially run into trouble while opening the sample capsule, it has now obtained them, and a part of it has even been put up on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC! So, go ahead and view the historic samples yourself if you live nearby!

In a new development, NASA has shed light on an asteroid that is expected to pass Earth today. Know details of this close encounter.

Asteroid 2023 TO15

An asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2023 TO15, is on its way towards Earth and could pass Earth at a very close distance today, November 6. NASA revealed these shocking details after tracking the asteroid's orbit using its various satellites and space and ground-based telescopes such as NEOWISE, Catalina Sky Survey, and more. As per the details, Asteroid 2023 TO15 is expected to pass Earth by a distance of 5.8 million kilometers, and at a speed of 40299 kilometers per hour, as per NASA.

The space agency has also revealed that it 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.

How big is it?

According to NASA, the asteroid that is approaching Earth is not expected to crash and isn't big enough to be classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object. These are celestial objects larger than about 490 meters that can approach the Earth within 7.5 million kilometers. It is approximately 150 feet wide, making it as big as an aircraft. Shockingly, this will be Asteroid 2023 TO15's first-ever close approach to Earth in history. As per NASA's Small-Body Database Lookup, the next time it will pass Earth will be on February 8, 2027, at a distance of 61 million kilometers, and a speed of 72648 kilometers per hour!