56-foot asteroid set to get very close to Earth today, says NASA; Is it dangerous?

NASA has revealed that a 56-foot asteroid could make a close approach to Earth today. Know about its distance, speed and how dangerously close it will get.

NASA warns of a close asteroid flyby today. (Pixabay)

If you thought asteroids have never struck the Earth, then you're mistaken. Not only have asteroids struck the Earth more than once in the last billion years, but some of them have even changed the course of history. These space rocks are also the reason behind the extinction of dinosaurs. Terrifyingly, one struck Earth on the November 18, 2022! Read story here. 

But how can asteroid impact craters, which struck the Earth thousands of years ago be identified? In an astonishing development, a team of international researchers identified the previous impact sites of asteroids using CSI crime solving techniques. But before that, know about this asteroid which is headed directly for Earth, as warned by NASA.

Asteroid 2022 WA2 key details

The asteroid, named Asteroid 2022 WA2 will fly past Earth today, November 25. This space rock will make its closest approach to the planet at a distance of just 1.4 million kilometers from Earth, which is less than twice the Moon's distance from the planet! That is scarily close! What is more, the 56-foot asteroid is speeding at a staggering speed of 35192 kilometers per hour.

According to NASA, the Asteroid 2022 WA2 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids which are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.

According to the-sky.org, the Asteroid 2022 WA2 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It was discovered recently on November 25. This asteroid takes 579 days to complete one trip around the Sun during which its maximum distance from the Sun is 283 million kilometers and nearest distance is 124 million kilometers. The asteroid is expected to fly by at this close distance.

Asteroid impact sites identified using CSI techniques

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.