Huge 140-foot asteroid hurtling towards Earth today. NASA issues warning | Tech News

Huge 140-foot asteroid hurtling towards Earth today. NASA issues warning

NASA has warned that a huge 140 feet asteroid, named Asteroid 2022 QX4 will come very close to Earth today, August 29. It is a scary and massive asteroid with a huge potential for destruction.

By: SHAURYA TOMER
| Updated on: Aug 29 2022, 09:56 IST
Think you know our Sun? Check out THESE 5 stunning facts
Asteroid 2022 QX4 is terrifying space rock, but it is expected to miss Earth by a close margin today, August 29, NASA has said.
1/5 The Sun is the largest object in our solar system and is a 4.5 billion-year-old star – a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium at the center of the solar system. It is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from Earth, and without its energy, life as we know it could not exist here on our home planet. (Pixabay)
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2/5 The Sun’s volume would need 1.3 million Earths to fill it. Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything from the biggest planets to the smallest bits of debris in orbit around it. The hottest part of the Sun is its core, where temperatures top 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). The Sun’s activity, from its powerful eruptions to the steady stream of charged particles it sends out, influences the nature of space throughout the solar system. (NASA)
Asteroid 2022 QX4 is terrifying space rock, but it is expected to miss Earth by a close margin today, August 29, NASA has said.
3/5 According to NASA, measuring a “day” on the Sun is complicated because of the way it rotates. It doesn't spin as a single, solid ball. This is because the Sun’s surface isn't solid like Earth's. Instead, the Sun is made of super-hot, electrically charged gas called plasma. This plasma rotates at different speeds on different parts of the Sun. At its equator, the Sun completes one rotation in 25 Earth days. At its poles, the Sun rotates once on its axis every 36 Earth days. (NASA)
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4/5 Above the Sun’s surface are its thin chromosphere and the huge corona (crown). This is where we see features such as solar prominences, flares, and coronal mass ejections. The latter two are giant explosions of energy and particles that can reach Earth. (Pixabay)
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5/5 The Sun doesn’t have moons, but eight planets orbit it, at least five dwarf planets, tens of thousands of asteroids, and perhaps three trillion comets and icy bodies. Also, several spacecraft are currently investigating the Sun including Parker Solar Probe, STEREO, Solar Orbiter, SOHO, Solar Dynamics Observatory, Hinode, IRIS, and Wind. (Pixabay)
Asteroid 2022 QX4 is terrifying space rock, but it is expected to miss Earth by a close margin today, August 29, NASA has said.
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Asteroid 2022 QX4 is terrifying space rock, but it is expected to miss Earth by a close margin today, August 29, NASA has said. (NASA)

As many as 3 asteroids just passed Earth by a close margin over the weekend. These asteroids, named Asteroid 2022 QP4, Asteroid 2022 QQ4 and Asteroid 2022 QP3, flew past Earth at staggering speeds. Fortunately, these asteroids missed the Earth by a few million kilometers, which is considered a close shave in astronomical terms. Now, another asteroid, named Asteroid 2022 QX4 is set to fly past Earth today, August 29.

Asteroid 2022 QX4 to fly past Earth today, August 29

The Asteroid 2022 QX4 is already on its way towards Earth. It is travelling at a staggering speed of 31,644 kilometers per hour. According to NASA, the Asteroid 2022 QX4 is nearly as big as an aeroplane, with a width of almost 140 feet, easily making it the largest asteroid to fly past Earth in the last 3 days. It will make its closest approach to Earth tomorrow, August 29 at a distance of nearly 1.83 million kilometers.

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asteroid 2022 QX4
Current trajectory of Asteroid 2022 QX4. (NASA)
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Current trajectory of Asteroid 2022 QX4. (NASA)

Although this asteroid is not expected to cause any damage, it still has been classified as a “Potentially Hazardous Object” due to the close proximity with which it will fly past Earth. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office classifies Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) as potentially hazardous if they come within 8 million kilometers of Earth.

NASA to launch Artemis Mission today

NASA's Artemis Mission is set to launch today from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral in Florida. Despite a couple of lightning strikes to the launch pad yesterday, the mission is still a go-ahead and the countdown for launch has already begun.

The Artemis Programme is NASA's first attempt to send a manned mission to the Moon since the Apollo missions in 1972. Earlier this month, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said, “To all of us that gaze up at the Moon, dreaming of the day humankind returns to the lunar surface, folks, we're here. We are going back.”

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First Published Date: 29 Aug, 09:56 IST
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