Menacing 59-foot asteroid rushing towards Earth! Close approach today

NASA has issued an alert due to a menacing space rock which is headed for Earth today. Know its speed, distance, size and more.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Jan 25 2023, 10:25 IST
Top astronomy photos of the week by NASA: Galaxy wars, Nebula, Moon to Sun, check them out
Asteroid
1/7 On January 14, NASA released an image of Perihelion Sun 2023, the image was taken after January 4, at the Earth's closest approach to the Sun. It was taken less than 24 hours after the earth's close approach. (Peter Ward (Barden Ridge Observatory))
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2/7 On January 15, another photograph was released of The Crab Nebula snapped by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Crab Nebula, the result of a supernova seen in 1054 AD, is filled with mysterious filaments. ( NASA, ESA, Hubble, J. Hester, A. Loll (ASU))
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3/7 On January 16, NASA released an image of Moon Enhanced. The featured image is a composite of multiple images enhanced to bring up real surface features. The dark areas in the image, called maria, have fewer craters and were once seas of molten lava. Additionally, the image colours, although based on the moon's real composition, are changed, and exaggerated. (Darya Kawa Mirza)
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4/7 On January 17, the image of unexpected clouds toward the Andromeda Galaxy was released. (Yann Sainty & Marcel Drechsler)
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5/7 Image of MACS0647: Gravitational Lensing of the Early Universe Captured by James Webb Space Telescope was released by NASA on January 18. ( NASA, ESA, CSA, Dan Coe (STScI), Rebecca Larson (UT), Yu-Yang Hsiao (JHU); Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI); Text: Michael Rutkowski (Minn. St. U. Mankato))
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6/7 On January 19, the image of The Seagull Nebula was released. The complex of gas and dust clouds with other stars of the Canis Majoris OB1 association spans over 200 light-years. (Carlos Taylor)
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7/7 Galaxy Wars: M81 and M82, this image was released on January 20. On the right, with grand spiral arms and bright yellow core is spiral galaxy M81.  (Andreas Aufschnaiter)
Asteroid
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NASA reveals house-sized Asteroid 2023 BY is all set to pass Earth today. (DALL-E)

Once every few million years, a planet-killing space rock impacts the Earth, according to NASA. As these space rocks revolve around the Sun in their elliptical orbits, the asteroids also rotate, sometimes quite erratically, according to NASA. Colossal asteroids have been responsible for some of the biggest events in history. From the Chelyabinsk disaster that claimed many lives to the meteor which caused the extinction of dinosaurs millions of years ago, whenever meteors have crashed on Earth, they have impacted lives.

Although a planet-killing space rock is not expected to make a trip to Earth anytime soon, NASA has warned that an asteroid speeding towards Earth today, January 25.

Asteroid 2023 BY details

The Potentially Hazardous Asteroid, named as Asteroid 2023 BY is already on its way towards Earth travelling at a staggering speed of 42229 kilometers per hour and is expected to just miss the planet today, January 25. It will make its closest approach to Earth at a distance of just 3.2 million kilometers, according to NASA. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office has warned that Asteroid 2023 BY is nearly the size of a house, with a width of 59 feet.

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According to the-sky.org, the Asteroid 2023 BY was discovered just recently on 21 January and it belongs to the Aten group of asteroids. It takes just 278 days to orbit the Sun during which its maximum distance from the Sun is 178 million kilometers and minimum distance is 71 million kilometers.

How does NASA track asteroids?

NASA keeps a watch on these asteroids by studying data collected by various telescopes and observatories such as the Pan-STARRS, the Catalina Sky Survey and the NEOWISE telescope. NASA also has a NEO Surveyor mission planned for launch in 2026 to gain even greater in-depth data using a new orbiter. NASA can track the orbital path of the asteroid using this infrared data and can even predict its orbit years into the future.

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First Published Date: 25 Jan, 10:24 IST
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