Asteroid dashing towards Earth! NASA warns of 89-foot space rock

An 89-foot asteroid could make its closest approach to Earth as soon as today. Know its speed, trajectory, distance of approach and more, as per NASA.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Feb 13 2023, 07:05 IST
Colossal 2400-foot asteroid, 4 other space rocks to buzz Earth soon
Asteroid
1/5 Asteroid 2023 BC8 - NASA has issued an alert against an asteroid named Asteroid 2023 BC8. The asteroid is expected to fly past Earth closely tomorrow, February 11, at a distance of 5 .9million kilometers. According to NASA, the asteroid is huge with a size of almost 160-foot across. This space rock is already on its way towards Earth, travelling at a staggering speed of 50564 kilometers per hour.  (NASA)
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2/5 Asteroid 2021 EP4 - A small 16 feet wide asteroid will fly past Earth by a very close margin on February 13. The asteroid, named Asteroid 2021 EP4, will make its closest approach with the planet at a distance of 7.2 million kilometers. The asteroid is travelling towards the planet at a blistering speed of 22107 kilometers per hour.  (NASA/JPL)
Asteroid
3/5 Asteroid 2022 RG – Another asteroid named 2022 RG will make its closest approach to Earth on February 16, at a distance of 3.1 million kilometers. The asteroid, with a width of 78 feet, is travelling at a staggering speed of 10953 kilometers per hour towards the planet.  (Wikimedia Commons)
Asteroid
4/5 Asteroid 2005 YY128 - NASA has issued an alert against another asteroid named Asteroid 2005 YY128. It is expected to fly past Earth closely on February 16 at a distance of 4.6 million kilometers. The asteroid is already on its way towards Earth, travelling at a blistering speed of 88735 kilometers per hour. This asteroid is absolutely massive with a width of almost 2400 feet, making it nearly as big as a bridge!  (Pixabay)
Asteroid
5/5 Asteroid 2020 DG4 - The fifth asteroid which is set to make a close approach is named Asteroid 2020 DG4. It is heading for Earth and is expected to pass by the planet closely on February 17. Asteroid 2020 DG4 is already on its way towards us travelling at a fearsome speed of 24913 kilometers per hour. The asteroid, with a width between 20 feet and 45 feet, will make its closest approach to Earth at a distance of just 552,381 kilometers. (Pixabay)
Asteroid
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Asteroid 2023 CJ1 belongs to the Amor group of asteroids. (Pixabay)

The largest asteroid in the solar system, Ceres, is 939 kilometers wide. And strangely, we don't even require such humongous asteroids to extinguish life on the Earth and destroy the planet. To extinguish life completely on Earth, an asteroid would have to be approximately 96 km wide, though smaller asteroids also have the potential to cause damage up to a great extent. Although nearly not as big, NASA has warned that an 89-foot asteroid is all set to buzz Earth today, and it could cause localized damage if it impacts.

Here's what NASA says about this oncoming asteroid.

Asteroid 2023 CJ1

Space agencies around the world, including NASA are on alert as a gigantic 89 feet wide is expected to pass by Earth today. NASA has warned that this space rock, named Asteroid 2023 CJ1, will make its closest approach to Earth today, February 13 at a distance of 4.8 million kilometers.

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Although the distance might seem a lot, it is relatively a small number in astronomical distances, considering how big the asteroid is! It is already speeding towards our planet at a blistering 25755 kilometers per hour, which is nearly twice the speed of a hypersonic ballistic missile!

NASA tech used to study asteroids

NASA not only uses its space telescopes and observatories like the NEOWISE to observe and study distant asteroids, but also a variety of ground-based telescopes such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) located in the Antofagasta Region of the Atacama Desert in Chile.

NASA also has a new impact monitoring system in place which uses an algorithm called Sentry-II to calculate the impact risk of Near-Earth Objects. NASA can track the orbital path of the asteroid using this infrared data and can even predict its orbit years into the future. As of now, nearly 28,000 near-Earth asteroids have been discovered using various tech instruments which track objects in the sky.

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First Published Date: 13 Feb, 07:05 IST
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