NASA NEOWISE Telescope makes shocking discovery! Scary 84-foot asteroid heading for Earth today

NASA has warned that a devastating 84 foot wide asteroid is heading dangerously towards Earth today. Will it be a planet killer? Here’s what NASA has to say.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Sep 13 2022, 10:46 IST

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This asteroid is worth $10,000 Quadrillion

1/6 hereas other asteroids are generally made up of ice or rocks, this unique asteroid is made up of nickel, which is one of the building blocks of the solar system. One of the biggest asteroids in our Solar System, the 16 Psyche asteroid is made up of gold, nickel and iron deposits and is supposedly worth more than Earth's economy. The asteroid is worth nearly $10,000 Quadrillion. (NASA)

Asteroid and Earth — 2/6 The Psyche Mission will also help scientists to study and understand iron cores, a previously unexplored building block of planet formation. The 16 Psyche asteroid mission is a part of NASA's Discovery missions. (Pixabay)

image caption — 3/6 The findings of this mission could enable scientists to develop a way of using asteroids as resources. Asteroids could come in handy when building structures in space, such as bases on other planets or even the Moon. Due to their 85 percent metal structure, they could be an excellent source of minerals. It is even said that the raw materials extracted from asteroids could even exceed the metal reserves present on Earth. (NASA)

4/6 The mission has been in the phase known as assembly, test, and launch operations since March 2021. Since the launch window is limited, scientists and engineers have worked round the clock in order to finish the spacecraft's assembly in time. However, due to unexpected software issues, the mission has now been delayed and pushed to 2023. (NASA)

NASA, with the help of its NEOWISE Telescope, has discovered a huge asteroid heading dangerously towards Earth today. This particular asteroid has caused astronomers at the space agencies to worry as it was discovered just a fortnight ago on September 1, 2022. It belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids which are located in the main asteroid belt near Jupiter. Will it prove to be a planet-killer?

Asteroid 2022 RQ heading dangerously for Earth today, September 13

The asteroid, named Asteroid 2022 RQ is already on its way towards Earth, travelling at a staggering speed of 49,536 kilometers per hour. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office has warned that Asteroid 2022 RQ is 84 feet wide, nearly the size of an aircraft. The asteroid will make its closest approach to the planet today, September 13 at a distance of nearly 3.7 million kilometers.

The asteroid 's farthest point from the Sun is 328 million kilometers, and the nearest point to the Sun is 110 million kilometers. Asteroid 2022 RQ takes 648 days to complete one orbit around the Sun.

How does NASA track these NEOs?

According to NASA, a near-Earth object (NEO) is an asteroid or comet whose orbit brings it within a zone approximately 195 million kilometers from the Sun, meaning that it can pass within about 50 million kilometers of Earth's orbit. As of now, nearly 28,000 near-Earth asteroids have been discovered using various survey telescopes which track objects in the sky.

NASA JPL's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) has recently developed a next-generation asteroid impact monitoring system which has gone online. According to NASA, the new impact monitoring system uses an algorithm called Sentry-II to calculate the impact risk of Near-Earth Objects. NASA JPL also uses a variety of ground-based telescopes in the hunt for these asteroids.

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First Published Date: 13 Sep, 10:46 IST