Amor group asteroid hurtling towards Earth for close encounter

NASA, with the help of its advanced satellites and telescopes, has issued a warning against a house-sized asteroid that will come very close to Earth. Know details.

Asteroid 2023 HL belongs to the Amor group of Near-Earth Asteroids. (NASA)

NASA has issued an alert about an asteroid that is expected to make its closest approach to Earth soon. The asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2023 HL, will pass Earth closely tomorrow, June 17, at a distance of 5.1 million kilometers from the planet. While this asteroid is not massive, it is approximately the size of a house, with a width of 45 feet, according to NASA.

But unlike other asteroids which pass the planet at fearsome speeds, Asteroid 2023 HL is moving towards slowly and steadily, at a pace of 3730 kilometers per hour.

Other details

NASA has also revealed that this space rock belongs to the Amor group of Near-Earth Asteroids which are Earth-approaching near-Earth asteroids with orbits exterior to Earth but interior to Mars', named after asteroid 1221 Amor, which was discovered by Belgian astronomer E. Delporte in 1932.

The asteroid's first close approach in recorded history happened on 24 May 1977 when it came as close as 35 million kilometers. Its last approach was on 16 June 2009 at a distance of 2.2 million kilometers. After today, the asteroid will pass Earth on 23 June 2035, at a distance of 5 million kilometers.

Process of naming asteroids explained

Asteroids are ancient space rocks left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. While these space rocks come close to Earth very often, do you know how they are named? According to ESA, the process of assigning a provisional designation to an asteroid begins when a single observer detects it on two consecutive nights and then sends their findings to the Minor Planet Centre of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The IAU assigns a provisional designation, which typically consists of a serial number like "2023 KT1".

The provisional designation includes the year of the asteroid's discovery, followed by two letters that indicate the order of its discovery during that year. Now, another closely observed asteroid is expected to make its closest approach to Earth today.