A small asteroid will pass near the Earth … today

Muhammad bin Masoud – Dammam – with a diameter of five meters, moving at a speed of three kilometers per second

The head of the Jeddah Astronomical Society, Engineer Majed Abu Zahira, said that today, Thursday, September 16, 2021, the globe will witness the crossing of a newly discovered small asteroid called 2021 RF16, d ‘a diameter of five meters, moving at a speed of three kilometers per second, and it will be at the closest distance (318,537 kilometers) to the hour 12:19 KSA (21:19 GMT), and its apparent brightness (17, 9+); Therefore, it will not be visible to the naked eye and there is no danger of it colliding with our planet.

Asteroid 2021 RF16 is on the Near-Earth Object List and includes any asteroid whose orbit intersects with Earth.

Based on the latest high resolution orbital calculations; Asteroid 2021 RF16 has been confirmed to approach on Thursday, the closest in the next ten years.

Asteroid 2021 RF16 is much smaller than the asteroid that entered the sky of Russia in February 2013, it reached a diameter of 20 meters, and it disintegrated at low altitude, releasing very high energy which caused a collision wave in the sky, which shattered the glass of buildings, human injuries due to the glass projections and the arrival of small pieces of the remains of this space rock on the surface of the Earth in the form of meteorites .

Even though asteroid 2021 RF16 is on a collision course with Earth; It would disintegrate Earth’s upper atmosphere, not cause an “extinction-level catastrophe”, and have no serious impact on the safety of Earth’s inhabitants. Nonetheless, the asteroid is interesting.

Such opportunities are used to learn more about asteroids such as the nature of their makeup; These objects, like the time machine, vestiges of the formation of our solar system, hold many secrets from that time, and they can tell us more about the origin of our planet.

In addition, observing the movement of the asteroid is a great opportunity to test international capabilities in detecting and tracking NEOs, and to assess our ability to jointly respond to any real threat to any asteroid in the world. the future.

It should be noted that as small asteroids approach Earth, its orbit is likely to be affected by our planet’s gravity, an effect called “gravity assist”, and space agencies use it to help to propel spacecraft to various locations in our solar system.

https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2021%20RG12&orb=1

September 16, 2021 – 9 Safar 1443 09:39

It has a diameter of five meters and moves at a speed of three kilometers per second

Jeddah astronomer: A small asteroid will pass near Earth today

The head of the Jeddah Astronomical Society, Engineer Majed Abu Zahira, said that today, Thursday, September 16, 2021, the globe will witness the crossing of a newly discovered small asteroid called 2021 RF16, from a diameter of five meters, moving at a speed of three kilometers per second, and it will be at the closest distance (318,537 kilometers) to the hour 12:19 KSA (21:19 GMT), and its apparent brightness (17.9 +); Therefore, it will not be visible to the naked eye and there is no risk of it colliding with our planet.

Asteroid 2021 RF16 is on the Near-Earth Object List and includes any asteroid whose orbit intersects with Earth.

Based on the latest high resolution orbital calculations; Asteroid 2021 RF16 has been confirmed to approach on Thursday, the closest in the next ten years.

Asteroid 2021 RF16 is much smaller than the asteroid that entered the sky of Russia in February 2013, it reached a diameter of 20 meters, and it disintegrated at low altitude, releasing very high energy which caused a collision wave in the sky, which shattered the glass of buildings, human injuries due to the glass projections and the arrival of small pieces of the remains of this space rock on the surface of the Earth in the form of meteorites .

Even though asteroid 2021 RF16 is on a collision course with Earth; It would disintegrate Earth’s upper atmosphere, not cause an “extinction-level catastrophe”, and have no serious impact on the safety of Earth’s inhabitants. Nonetheless, the asteroid is interesting.

Such opportunities are used to learn more about asteroids such as the nature of their makeup; These objects, like the time machine, vestiges of the formation of our solar system, hold many secrets from that time, and they can tell us more about the origin of our planet.

In addition, observing the movement of the asteroid is a great opportunity to test international capabilities in detecting and tracking NEOs, and to assess our ability to jointly respond to any real threat to any asteroid in the world. the future.

It should be noted that as small asteroids approach Earth, its orbit is likely to be affected by our planet’s gravity, an effect called “gravity assist”, and space agencies use it to help to propel spacecraft to various locations in our solar system.

https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2021%20RG12&orb=1