Take Cover! A 53-feet Scary asteroid is zooming towards the Earth today, NASA confirms | Tech News

Take Cover! A 53-feet Scary asteroid is zooming towards the Earth today, NASA confirms

The dangerous asteroid 2015 FF is headed towards the Earth today, August 12, according to NASA. What are the chances of this space rock to smash into our planet? Find out.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Aug 12 2022, 12:06 IST
What is an Asteroid? NASA defines what these dangerous objects in sky are
Asteroid
1/5 An asteroid is a small, rocky object hurtling through the sky. When seen in a telescope, an asteroid appears as a point of light, according to NASA. Most asteroids are found in a ring between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter called the asteroid belt. (Pixabay)
Asteroid
2/5 Asteroids have several shapes, they may be spherical, elongated, or oddly shaped. Some asteroids even have their own satellites! Asteroids also vary in size. From Vesta, the largest at about 530 kilometers in diameter, to asteroids that are less than 10 meters in diameter, they can be found in all shapes and sizes. (Pixabay)
Asteroid
3/5 Asteroids are also called minor planets. These celestial objects are the remains of the period during which our solar system formed, over 4.6 billion years ago. According to NASA, the current known asteroid count is 1,113,527. (HT_PRINT)
Asteroid
4/5 Asteroids can potentially threaten life on Earth. Apocalyptic movies like Deep Impact, Armageddon and Don't Look Up have always explored the ‘What Ifs’ of world destruction, with the most famous means of world destruction being asteroids crashing into Earth. (Pixabay)
Asteroid
5/5 To counter this, NASA had readied itself to potentially defend the planet against a very similar threat that is posed by asteroids by preparing the DART mission. It involves smashing a spacecraft into an oncoming asteroid at a speed of nearly 23,000kph. This knowledge will be used if an actual asteroid threatens to crash against the Earth. It will help avert an Armageddon on Earth and perhaps, even save humanity from extinction. (NASA)
Asteroid
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NASA says that a 53-feet wide asteroid will be making its closest approach to the Earth today, August 12. (Pixabay)

There is yet another near-Earth object (NEO) which is setting its eyes on the Earth! Recently, Earth has been witnessing a lot of rocky visitors nearly colliding, but eventually passing it by very closely. Just a couple of days ago, a 100-feet wide asteroid narrowly missed the Earth. But there is no time to relax as yet another dangerous asteroid is going to make its closest approach to the Earth today, August 12. According to NASA, this asteroid is around 53-feet wide, which might be smaller than the previous space assailant, but this one is going to come much closer. As a result, there is a big fear that this asteroid might cause some major destruction to the planet if it gets pulled in due to Earth's gravitational force. So, what's the likelihood of an asteroid strike? Read on to find out.

Asteroid 2015 FF to approach the Earth today

NASA has been collecting data on this asteroid ever since it was first discovered in March 2015. This information can be found on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) website as well as Small-Body database and Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) websites, all functioning under NASA. According to the information, the asteroid is named 2015 FF and it is going to come as close as 4.2 million kilometers to the Earth. The distance may seem too large to be worried about, but the asteroid is traveling at the speed of 33,012 kilometers per hour and will close the distance in mere days if its trajectory gets deviated for any reason.

According to the current prediction models, NASA believes that the asteroid is not likely to strike the Earth and will make a safe passage across the planet.

The asteroid is an interesting one. The last we saw it was in 2015 and after another quick trip in 2025, it will not come our way again till 2066. But even then, the asteroid will not be coming this close to us again this century.

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First Published Date: 12 Aug, 12:05 IST
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