Asteroid 2023 TT8 to get very close to Earth today, NASA reveals | Tech News

Asteroid 2023 TT8 to get very close to Earth today, NASA reveals

NASA has shed light on an Apollo-group asteroid which is expected to make its first-ever close approach to Earth today, October 16. Know its speed, size, distance of approach, and more.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Oct 16 2023, 08:17 IST
NASA tracks 5 asteroids approaching Earth! Know their size, speed, and more
Asteroid 2023 TT8
1/5 Asteroid 2023 TD7: According to data revealed by NASA, asteroid  2023 TD7 is hurtling towards a close flyby of Earth today, October 14. The size of this asteroid is 17 Feet and is as big as the size of a car. Its closest Earth approach is estimated to be 171,000 kilometers, which will get it closer than the Moon. It will move towards Earth at a speed of 36315 kilometers per hour.  (Pexels)
Asteroid 2023 TT8
2/5 Asteroid 2023 TO4: The size of this asteroid is 34 Feet and is as big as the size of a bus. Its close Earth approach is estimated to be 712000 Kilometers. It is expected to reach close to Earth on October 14. It will move towards Earth at a speed of 60443 Kilometers Per hour. (Pixabay)
Asteroid 2023 TT8
3/5 Asteroid 2023 TQ3: This aircraft-sized asteroid is 86 Feet wide. It is expected to pay a close visit to Earth on October 14. According to NASA, Its Closest Earth approach is estimated to be 1.47 million kilometers. It will be traveling towards Earth at a speed of 40519 kilometers per hour. (Pixabay)
Asteroid 2023 TT8
4/5 Asteroid 2023 TD8: This asteroid is designated as 2023 TD8 by NASA. It is expected to reach closer to Earth on October 14. Its closest Earth approach will be 2.16 million kilometers. This asteroid is 27 Feet wide and is as big as the size of a bus. It will be speeding towards Earth with a relative velocity of 35482 kilometers per hour.  (NASA)
Asteroid 2023 TT8
5/5 Asteroid 2023 TC7: According to data revealed by NASA, this asteroid is 53 feet wide and its size is similar to the size of a house. It is expected to pay a close visit to Earth on October 15. Its closest Earth approach is estimated to be 666000 kilometers. It will be traveling towards Earth at a speed of 24510 kilometers per hour.  (Pixabay)
Asteroid 2023 TT8
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Asteroid 2023 TT8 belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids. (NASA JPL)

Asteroids are abundant in space and as many as 1298148 have been discovered to date. To track and study these space rocks which are mainly present in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, NASA has several advanced ground and space-based telescopes in place. NEOWISE telescope, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Pans-STARRS1 and Catalina Sky Survey are just some of the telescopes and observatories that help study asteroids and remove any uncertainties around their potentially close approaches to Earth.

In a new development, NASA has revealed that an asteroid is expected to make its closest approach to Earth today. Know all about it.

Asteroid 2023 TT8 details

The asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2023 TT8, is already on its way towards Earth travelling at a staggering speed of 28525 kilometers per hour in its orbit around the Sun. NASA expects this asteroid to make its closest approach to Earth today, October 16, and it will pass by a distance of almost 2.2 million kilometers.

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While this asteroid will pass by closely, it isn't big enough to cause a panic. As per NASA, the asteroid is between 42 feet and 90 feet wide. However, if it crashes on Earth, it could still cause damage to a certain degree. In 2013, a similar 59-foot asteroid exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia, damaging 7000 buildings and injuring over a 1000 people.

This space rock 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 Wilhelm Reinmuth in the 1930s.

Shockingly, while it has passed Earth before, this will be Asteroid 2023 TT8's first-ever close approach in history. As per the details provided by NASA's Small-Body Database Lookup, it will not make another close approach to the planet in the near future.

NASA's Psyche mission

The Psyche mission, which launched on October 13, is part of NASA's Discovery missions. NASA will study an asteroid called 16 Psyche which is currently orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. One of the most astonishing facts about this asteroid is that it is made up of gold, silver and nickel deposits, making it metal-rich. According to NASA, it could be worth more than Earth's economy put together. It is worth a staggering $10 quadrillion!

Other than its gold-rich structure, the outer surface of this asteroid is nickel-rich which resembles an early planet's core. The spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for 21 months to map the asteroid and gain information about the makeup of the asteroid as well as learn how metal core asteroids and planets are formed. 

This will be an important step to study the formation of Earth itself as well.

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First Published Date: 16 Oct, 08:17 IST
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