House-sized asteroid hurtling towards Earth, NASA reveals crucial details!

NASA has revealed that a house-sized asteroid named Asteroid 2018 KR could make its closest trip to Earth soon. Know its speed, distance, and more details.

Asteroid 2018 KR belongs to the Aten group of asteroids. (Pixabay)

To determine the potential danger posed by asteroids that come close to Earth, NASA calculates its orbit to gauge the distance at which it will pass the planet. The asteroid's orbit is computed by finding the elliptical path about the sun that best fits the available observations of the object using various space and ground-based telescopes such as NASA's NEOWISE telescope and its brand-new Sentry II algorithm. That is, the object's computed path about the sun is adjusted until the predictions of where the asteroid should have appeared in the sky at several observed times match the positions where the object was actually observed to be at those same times.

With the help of similar tech, NASA has now revealed details about an asteroid that is set to come close to Earth today.

Asteroid 2018 KR

The asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2018 KR, is on its way towards Earth today, June 7. The asteroid was spotted by NASA's Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), which is responsible for monitoring the skies and keeping a watch on various Near-Earth Objects (NEOs).

Wondering how big it is? NASA has revealed that this asteroid is almost as big as a house, with a width of 59 feet. Its first close approach with Earth in recorded history occurred on December 28, 1913, as it passed the planet at a distance of 3.3 million kilometers. After today, the asteroid will come close to Earth in 2043!

Asteroid 2018 KR is expected to make its closest approach to the planet at a distance of 2.4 million kilometers today at a speed of 17554 kilometers per hour, as per NASA. It belongs to the Aten group of asteroids, which are Earth-crossing Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) with semi-major axes smaller than Earth's. They are named after the asteroid 2062 Aten.

How asteroids come close to Earth

According to NASA, the orbits of asteroids can be changed by Jupiter's massive gravity and by occasional close encounters with planets like Mars or other objects. These accidental encounters can knock asteroids out of the main belt and hurl them into space in all directions across the orbits of the other planets.