NASA on alert as enormous 470-ft Asteroid dashing towards Earth today

A 470-foot asteroid could make its closest approach to Earth as soon as today. Know its speed, trajectory, distance of approach and more, as per NASA.

Asteroid 2015 BY310 belongs to the Amor group of asteroids. (Wikimedia Commons)

Ceres, which is the biggest asteroid in the solar system, has a diameter of 939 kilometers. However, an asteroid doesn't have to be as massive as Ceres to wipe out life on Earth and cause significant damage, according to NASA. In fact, an asteroid with a diameter of around 96 kilometers (about half the distance from Washington, D.C. to New York City) could be enough to completely extinguish life on Earth, and smaller asteroids can still cause considerable damage.

Now, NASA has issued a warning that a 470-foot asteroid is scheduled to pass by Earth today. If an asteroid as big as this were to hit Earth, especially a crowded city, it could result in a huge number of people being killed.

Asteroid 2015 BY310 information

Scientists are particularly intrigued by a massive asteroid known as Asteroid 2015 BY310, due to its colossal size. According to NASA, the asteroid is estimated to be roughly 470 feet wide, which is comparable in size to a towering skyscraper. Given its enormity, if Asteroid 2015 BY310 were to collide with the planet, it could cause immense destruction, particularly if it landed in a densely populated region.

As per the space agency, Asteroid 2015 BY310 is set to reach its nearest distance to Earth today, March 6, at a distance of 4 million kilometers. While this distance may seem considerable, it's relatively minor in terms of astronomical measurements, considering the massive size of the asteroid.

In fact, Asteroid 2015 BY310 is already dashing towards Earth, at a fiery speed of 27782 kilometers per hour!

NASA tech used to study asteroids

NASA not only uses its space telescopes and observatories like the NEOWISE to observe and study distant asteroids, but also a variety of ground-based telescopes such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) located in the Antofagasta Region of the Atacama Desert in Chile.

NASA also has a new impact monitoring system in place which uses an algorithm called Sentry-II to calculate the impact risk of Near-Earth Objects. NASA can track the orbital path of the asteroid using this infrared data and can even predict its orbit years into the future. As of now, nearly 28,000 near-Earth asteroids have been discovered using various tech instruments which track objects in the sky.