Huge ‘potentially dangerous’ asteroid twice the size of the Burj Khalifa flew over Earth in March

A massive kilometer-wide asteroid, twice the size of the tallest building in the world, will “fly” over Earth in March and has been labeled “potentially dangerous” by NASA.

The asteroid, named 231937 (2001 FO32), is unlikely to hit Earth because it will be 1.2 million miles from the planet – five times farther than the Moon.

However, NASA qualifies any rock in space located within 93 million kilometers of us a “near-earth object” – three quarters of the 120 million kilometer distance from Mars.

The mile-wide, half-mile-long space rock will make its closest approach to our planet at around 4:03 p.m. GMT on March 21, 2021 and has been called “ potentially dangerous ” because it “ could ” hit the planet at some point in the future of the solar system.

Asteroid 231937 is the largest space rock to “come close” to Earth this year and at 1.7 km, it is more than double the size of the tallest building on the planet – the Burj Khalifa.

It should be possible to see the asteroid through an eight-inch aperture telescope just after sunset on March 21 by looking slightly above the southern horizon.

Asteroid 231937 is the largest space rock to ‘come close’ to Earth this year and at 1.7 km, it is more than double the size of the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa

NASA calls any rock in space within 93 million kilometers of us a “ near-earth object, ” which is three-quarters of the 120 million-kilometer distance from Mars.

The asteroid was first detected in 2001 by a series of telescopes in New Mexico that are part of the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program.

The MIT project is funded by the US Air Force and NASA and it detected the space rock on March 23, 2001 and has been under observation ever since.

Using these observations, astronomers calculated its orbit, found out how close it would get to Earth, and determined that it would be heading at 77,000 mph.

SpaceReference.org wrote of the asteroid: “ Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2001 FO32 is probably between 0.767 and 1.714 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than ~ 97% of asteroids but small compared to large asteroids. ”

The asteroid and Earth are visible to the left of this orbital map on the “ blue ” Earth orbit line – the asteroid’s orbit is visible through the high white lines

It should be possible to see the asteroid through an eight-inch aperture telescope just after sunset on March 21 by looking slightly above the southern horizon. The pink dot is the asteroid and the clearest area is the sky visible over the UK on March 21 after sunset.

It may be possible to see the space rock as it skids past the planet in March if you have a telescope with an opening of at least eight inches.

The asteroid will be low in the southern sky, so it may be difficult to spot from the northern hemisphere, according to EarthSky.org.

To find it, look just above the horizon in the southern sky, you will glide through the southern constellations of Scorpio and Sagittarius.

It will be visible just above the horizon in the southern sky just after sunset if viewed from the UK and just before dawn if viewed from the southern US.

NASA is closely monitoring all near-Earth asteroids to determine if any of them may be approaching the planet.

A massive, kilometer-wide asteroid twice the size of the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa (pictured center) – will ‘fly’ over Earth in March

That’s a broad definition – covering any object within a radius of about 93 million kilometers from Earth – those that are nicknamed “dangerous” are within a radius of 4.6 million kilometers and are at least 500 feet tall. large.

According to NASA, there is currently no asteroid that poses a significant risk to life on Earth for at least the next century, according to NASA, with only one having a 0.2% chance of hitting the planet in 2185.

Meanwhile, space agencies around the world are investigating potential solutions to prevent a future asteroid from hitting Earth.

NASA considered using the gravity of a flying spacecraft to “ pull an asteroid ” onto a new trajectory.

Astronomers are looking for asteroids over 450 feet because they can cause ‘catastrophic damage’

Researchers have found most asteroids that are around a kilometer in length, but are now looking for those that are around 140 meters (459 feet) – because they could cause catastrophic damage.

While no one knows when the next big impact will occur, scientists have found themselves under pressure to predict – and intercept – its arrival.

Artist’s impression in photo

“ Sooner or later we’ll have … a minor or a major impact, ” said Rolf Densing, who heads the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt.

This may not happen in our lifetime, he said, but “the risk that the Earth will one day be hit in a devastating event is very high.”

“At the moment, there is not much we can do.

Source: AFP