NASA: Asteroid just passed Earth today! It was so close! Big as a stadium | Tech News

NASA: Asteroid just passed Earth today! It was so close! Big as a stadium

NASA asteroid watch feature just showed that a huge ‘potentially dangerous’ asteroid just passed Earth today.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Aug 22 2022, 10:38 IST
NASA asteroid
Know what this NASA scientist said about asteroids and Earth. (NASA)
NASA asteroid
Know what this NASA scientist said about asteroids and Earth. (NASA)

It was so close! A giant asteroid dubbed 2015 DR215, which is said to be as large as a football stadium, has just made its closest approach to Earth. NASA has put it under the category of "potentially dangerous" asteroids due to its close approach to Earth. It was seen for the first time on February 18, 2015. The asteroid is 910 feet wide (277 mtr). The relief is that Asteroid 2015 DR215 passed Earth at a distance of 6,700,000km (4.1 million miles) safely. This seems a large distance by Erath standards, but by space standards, this isn't that large at all!

Well, this is not the first time that Asteroid 2015 DR215 made its closest approach to Earth. It was last observed on January 13, 2021, and even in the coming decades, it is expected to make 31 more close approaches to Earth, NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies suggested. The 2015 DR215 asteroid orbits the sun every 199 days.

Asteroids have hit Earth previously

Just the mere thought of getting hit by a massive asteroid generates terror in the mind! However, you cannot wish asteroids away as history has been witness to countless asteroid hits on Earth! "Asteroids have hit Earth over the course of its history," Dr. Kelly Fast, the planetary defense expert and a manager of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office confirmed. But they were very small in size. Actually, small size asteroids can be detected passing Earth several times a month. Meteoroids, which are very small pieces of an asteroid and comets are usually less than 3 feet in size and they can hit and explode in the atmosphere of the Earth. In fact, it happens almost every day. Dr. Fast explained that large asteroids, which may pose a threat to Earth, are easier to locate than smaller ones, and our solar system has fewer of these larger asteroids. Therefore, tracking these asteroids becomes a critical task for NASA to evaluate the threat they pose. But don't worry! We are in good hands, as NASA is constantly tracking these potentially hazardous asteroids.

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First Published Date: 12 Mar, 10:19 IST
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