[ad_1]
The asteroid, christened 2019 SG1, was first observed in the solar system on Friday, September 20th. NASA has since tracked the asteroid 22 times to determine its size, speed and orbital trajectory. The US space agency concluded that the asteroid SG1 was flying in the direction of the Earth on a "near approach" trajectory. The asteroid is expected to approach Earth tonight at 22:08 (21:08 UTC).
What do we know about the asteroid 2019 SG1?
The asteroid 2019 SG1 is an Apollo-type rock gravitating around the inner circles of the solar system.
Apollo asteroids cross the Earth orbit in the same way as the 1862 Aperoid.
NASA has also classified SG1 as NEO or close to Earth.
NEOs are all comets and asteroids located within 1.3 astronomical units (as) of the Earth.
READ MORE: Distribute Bibles & # 39; is the only 24h warning asteroid appropriate
NASA said: "Some asteroids and some comets follow orbital trajectories that bring them much closer to the Sun and therefore to Earth – than usual.
"If approaching a comet or an asteroid brings it to less than 1.3 astronomical units of the Sun, we call it an object close to the Earth."
NASA believes the space the rock has a diameter of between 7.4 and 17 meters (24.3 feet to 55.7 feet).
At the peak of NASA's conjecture, the asteroid is twice as long as the London double-decker bus.
LOOK HERE: The major asteroid destroys the Earth in an accident simulation
An asteroid of this size would probably disintegrate before reaching the ground.
Past impacts, however, prove that an asteroid does not have to touch the ground to cause chaos and destruction.
When a rock 20 meters wide penetrated into the atmosphere over the Chelyabinsk Oblast (Russia) in 2013, the rocky object exploded before hitting.
The resulting arblast spread over a wide radius, damaging more than 7,000 buildings and injuring more than 1,000 people with broken windows.
READ MORE: Only cockroaches will survive the major impact of an asteroid, warns an expert
Will the 2019 asteroid SG1 be available on Earth tonight?
On its most comfortable approach to our planet of origin, the asteroid SG1 will be located at less than 0.00567 astronomical units.
A single astronomical unit describes the distance between the Earth and the Sun – about 149 million kilometers.
In other words, the asteroid will miss the Earth with a safety margin of 527,059 miles (848,219.93 km).
The distance is equivalent to only 2.21 lunar distances (LD), more than twice the distance of the moon.
[ad_2]
Source link