Stadium-sized asteroid approaching Earth at rapid pace! NASA reveals details

NASA has revealed that an asteroid could be making its closest approach to Earth today, and it is huge! Check out its speed, distance, and other details, as revealed by NASA.

Asteroid 2019 LH5 belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids. (NASA CNEOS)

An asteroid that was previously expected to strike Earth is now being deemed safe. However, it will come close enough to the planet in this decade, giving scientists a chance to study it. This asteroid is named 99942 Apophis and has been given the designation Asteroid 2004 MN4 by NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. According to NASA, Asteroid 99942 Apophis asteroid will make an extremely close trip to Earth on April 13, 2029. On that day, this space rock will come as close as 38000 kilometers to Earth's surface. This is closer than many geostationary satellites orbiting the planet.

Another asteroid like this is expected to come to Earth, but it is not as notable as Asteroid 99942 Apophis. However, NASA issued an alert regarding its closest approach to Earth in the coming days.

Asteroid 2019 LH5 information

NASA has issued a warning about a particular asteroid called Asteroid 2019 LH5, as it will be approaching very close to Earth. The asteroid is currently traveling at a speed of almost 77938 kilometers per hour and is set to make its closest approach to Earth today, July 7, at a distance of almost 5.7 million kilometers.

By studying the data revealed by NASA, we can concur that this asteroid is not a planet-killer. However, it still is large enough to cause potential damage on Earth, especially if it crashed in a densely populated area. In terms of size, Asteroid 2019 LH5 is almost 880 feet wide, which is about the size of a whole stadium! This is why it has been declared a Potentially Hazardous Object by NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Other details

This asteroid made its very first close approach to Earth on February 3, 1916, and its last close approach was on February 2, 1977, at a distance of 4.2 million kilometers. After today, Asteroid 2019 LH5 is expected to come close to Earth on February 3, 2044, at a distance of 4.7 million kilometers.

It belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are Earth-crossing space rocks with semi-major axes larger than Earth's. These asteroids are named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.