Aircraft-sized asteroid to pass Earth today, reveals NASA
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Most asteroids revolve around the Sun in their orbits but they can come close to the planet on certain occasions after interacting with a large planet’s gravitational field.
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This entanglement knocks asteroids off their orbits and sends them hurtling towards a planet, raising a potential impact scenario.
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With the help of its ground and space-based telescopes, NASA says an asteroid is expected to pass Earth by a close margin today, April 12.
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The asteroid has been given the designation of Asteroid 2024 GA2 by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).
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The space rock is travelling in its orbit at a menacing speed of around 50022 kilometres per hour and will pass Earth at a distance of 5.5 million kilometres.
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Although Asteroid 2024 GA2 will come close to Earth and has been designated as a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA), it is not likely to impact the surface.
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In terms of size, the asteroid is nearly 99 feet wide, making it almost as big as an aircraft.
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It belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid.