64-foot asteroid speeding towards Earth! NASA reveals speed, close approach

Could this oncoming asteroid impact Earth and cause cataclysmic damage? Here’s what NASA said about this space rock.

Know more about this dangerous asteroid heading for Earth. (Pixabay)

Asteroids are Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) which are often found orbiting the Sun in the main asteroid belt near Jupiter. NASA defines NEOs as an object whose orbit brings it within a zone approximately 195 million kilometers from the Sun, meaning that it can pass within about 50 million kilometers of Earth's orbit. Usually, asteroids are the most common NEOs which come near the Earth's orbit. Most of them burn up and disintegrate before reaching the planet but some can still pass through. Now, NASA has warned that another one is already on its way today.

Asteroid 2022 UV20 details

Asteroid 2022 UV20 is part of the Apollo group of asteroids. According to the-sky.org, this asteroid takes almost 617 days to complete one orbit of the Sun, during which its farthest distance from the Sun is 288 million kilometers and nearest distance is 136 million kilometers.

Asteroid 2022 UV20 is heading for Earth today, November 9, at a blistering speed of 30303 kilometers per hour, according to NASA. The 64-foot space rock will make its closest approach to the planet at a distance of nearly 2.9 million kilometers. Although Asteroid 2022 UV20 is not expected to impact the Earth, it has still been classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object due to the close proximity by which it will pass Earth.

A slight deviation in its path due to interaction with the planet's gravitational field could change its trajectory and send it hurtling towards the Earth.

NASA studying Bennu asteroid

NASA JPL has been observing an asteroid named Bennu which orbits the sun every 1.2 years and makes a relatively close approach to Earth about every six years. The space agency has mapped the trajectory of the Bennu asteroid, which as a diameter of nearly 1,614 feet, using the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft up to the year 2135 using 29 radar observations and 478 optical observations of the asteroid, conducted by trackers around the world between September 1999 and January 2011.

According to NASA JPL, the close approach with Earth in the year 2135 will change the asteroid's trajectory a little and could potentially result in an Earth impact between 2175 and 2199.