Small, but dangerous! This asteroid TODAY will get terrifyingly close to Earth
Dangerous Asteroid 2022 SB is on its way to make a terrifyingly close approach to Earth. Here’s what NASA said.
_1638627105271_1638627118874.jpg "Most of the asteroids are observed with the help of the NEOWISE Project which repurposed NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to work as a survey telescope and scan the sky for Near-Earth Objects. NASA then uses its ground-based radar to gather precise data about the asteroid’s path and its characteristics.")
_1639115875543_1639115887157.jpg "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 survey telescopes which track objects in the sky.")
There are three asteroids that are lined up to make a very close approach to Earth, NASA's JPL tracker alerted. One of them are as large as a giant building at 390 feet, while another one is plane sized at 180 feet in diameter. However, one of the most terrifying among these is the Asteroid 2022 SB. No, it is not the size that poses a threat to Earth, as it measures 36 foot, but its terrifyingly close approach to Earth that is generating worry. As per the asteroid data tracking page by NASA, Asteroid 2022 SB will fly past the Earth today September 18 at a horrifyingly close distance of just 724,000 miles, which is just three times the distance between Earth and Moon - about 239,000 miles.
NASA says that the asteroid will be traveling at a massive speed of 17.89 per second. To detect the terror in advance, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for NEO Studies maintains an impact risk assessment of all the near-Earth objects that will make relatively close approaches to Earth. NASA's JPL has given the tag of potentially hazardous objects to all the space rocks that approach within 4.6 million miles of Earth and has a size larger than about 150 meters. Based on this, the Asteroid has been termed as a “potentially hazardous asteroid.” Are we in any danger?
NASA says that the asteroid will fly by Earth without impacting it as long as it stays on its current trajectory. Also, there is nothing in the asteroid's way that could throw it off course to send it straight at Earth. However, scientists will keep a close watch on it.
How NASA tracks the terror of asteroids
Some of the greatest technologies crated by humanity are behind the tracking of these asteroid. NASA explained that near-Earth objects are basically observed via using optical and radio telescopes to know the size, shape, rotation, and physical composition. “Some of the most detailed characterization data is obtained for NEOs that approach Earth close enough to be observed with planetary radar, performed by radio telescopes at NASA's Deep Space Network and the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico,” NASA revealed.
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