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Planet Earth was buzzed by a fairly large space rock on Saturday. Known as the Asteroid 2019 JR1, our heavenly visitor has swept over what astronomers call a "near-Earth approach", located a few million kilometers from the surface of the planet.
Classified as a Near Earth object (NEO), the asteroid 2019 JR1 was only recently discovered, it was detected a little over two weeks ago by NASA radar. Spotted for the first time on May 2, it was determined that the space rock was an Apollo-type asteroid – that is, it zipped around the solar system in the same way as the 1862 Apollo asteroid, crossing from time to time the Earth's orbit around the sun.
According to data from the NASA Near Earth Studies Center (CNEOS), the 2019 asteroid JR1 would have a diameter of between 108 and 242 feet. While a space of this size could pose serious problems if it had to move a little too close, the 2019 asteroid JR1 never gave us the slightest reason to worry. The object made a harmless terrestrial overflight of the Earth earlier in the day – and is not expected to return in the foreseeable future, announced NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) asteroid trackers.
As CNEOS explains, near-Earth objects, such as the 2019 asteroid JR1, are celestial bodies, whether it's asteroids or comets, " that have been pushed by the gravitational pull of nearby planets that allow them to enter Earth's orbits ".
"Note that a" near "passage astronomically can be very far in human terms: millions or even tens of millions of kilometers."
An object close to the Earth approaching our planet.
Родион Журавлёв
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pixabay
Crossing the space at incredible speeds of more than 30,000 km / h, the asteroid 2019 JR1 s approached very close to the planet Earth at 1:46 pm. AND. During today's close encounter, the asteroid has traveled less than 3.85 million kilometers from Earth. This means that, at its closest point to the surface of the planet, the space rock was 16.14 times farther than the moon.
Tomorrow, planet Earth will prepare for another rapprochement with a much more formidable asteroid. As L & # 39; inquisitr reported recently, a huge asteroid more than three thousand meters wide, almost three times larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza, will give the Earth a close – but perfectly safe – visit on May 19, buzzing the planet at a distance of 4 million miles.
A massive 1,280-foot asteroid will travel the Earth next Sunday at more than 58,000 MPH. The space stone will miss Earth 4 million miles. #Space https://t.co/hvOVumVWpd
– INQUISITR (@theinquisitr) May 13, 2019
The series of close asteroid overflights continues Monday with a visit of the asteroid 2019 JL3. Discovered just 10 days ago, it is thought that the space rock will have a width of between 92 and 206 feet and will far exceed the Earth in the early hours of the morning.
After studying its orbit, its trajectory and its proximity to our planet, the JPL asteroid trackers highlighted the moment of its rapprochement at 3:33 am, Eastern time. Although it is significantly smaller than its predecessors, the 2019 asteroid JL3 will pass much closer to our planet, traveling the Earth from a distance of 585,900 miles. It's 2.46 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
The asteroid will return in about two years and will be visited again on August 25, 2021. However, his next flight over the Earth will be much farther away and will bring him only 32.28 million miles from the surface. the planet.
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