House-sized asteroid to pass Earth soon, says NASA; Know how close it will get

NASA has discovered yet another asteroid with the help of its advanced ground and space-based telescopes, and it will pass Earth by a close margin on February 27. Know the details of this close encounter with Asteroid 2024 CT7.

Asteroid 2024 CT7 belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs), says NASA. (Pixabay)

With the help of advanced tech marvels such as the NEOWISE telescope, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Pans-STARRS1, and Catalina Sky Survey, NASA has shed light on an asteroid that is expected to pass Earth by a close margin on February 27. While the asteroid will come close to Earth, it is not expected to impact the surface, the US Space Agency has further revealed. Know the details of this close encounter with Asteroid 2024 CT7.

Asteroid 2024 CT7: Close approach details

As per the details revealed by NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), Asteroid 2024 CT7 is expected to pass Earth at a distance of just 2.3 million kilometers. It is already travelling towards Earth in its orbit at 27762 kilometers per hour which is almost as fast as an Intercontinental Ballistic Missle (ICBM)!

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 Reinmuth in the 1930s.

Other details

According to NASA, Asteroid 2024 CT7 has passed Earth before. It first passed the planet on June 5, 1949, at a distance of about 54 million kilometers. After today, it will come close to Earth again on April 17, 2035, at a distance of 52 million kilometers.

Is it dangerous?

NASA says that this asteroid does not threaten Earth due to its relatively small size. With a width of 52 feet, Asteroid 2024 CT7 is as big as a house. On the other hand, asteroids bigger than 492 feet and which pass Earth closer than 7.5 million kilometers are classified as ‘Potentially Hazardous Objects'.

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