[ad_1]
Two large asteroids will make passes extremely close to Earth in the next few days.
A number of asteroids – classified as Near Earth Objects (NEO) – pass regularly on Earth, but they will fly over exceptionally.
Tuesday, an object called 2019 MB4 will pass only 315 000 km from the Earth, a distance closer to that of the moon, which is located on average 385 000 km from the planet.
"This object is about the same size as the Chelyabinsk asteroid of February 15, 2013. It was observed for the first time at Pan-STARRS, the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii, on June 29th. Its estimated diameter is between 17 and 38 m (55 – 124). Its nearest approach to the Earth is expected at 07:20 UTC July 9 at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 7.17 km / s ", told News24 the astronomer of the SAAO's Scientific Commitment, Daniel Cunnama.
LILY: An asteroid the size of a bridge bus on Earth Saturday
This asteroid has an estimated length of 22 m, about half the length of an Airbus A380-800, the world's largest passenger jet.
Data from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory revealed that the 2019 NN3 will go on Earth Wednesday at a distance of 320,000 km. This asteroid has an estimated length between 35 and 77 m.
Discovery
The asteroid 2019 MB4 moves at 7.1 km / s (or 25,560 km / h) while 2019 NN3 moved at 8.84 km / s (31,824 km / h). A typical rifle bullet travels at about 750 m / s (2,700 km / h).
NASA's JPL data indicates NEOs. (NASA JPL)
It is difficult to find asteroids as they move rapidly in the darkness of space, which complicates the detection of instruments.
"Both asteroids belong to the group of Amor asteroids," said Cunnama.
Other classifications include Apollo's NEOs crossing the Earth's orbit, but whose semi-major axis is larger than the Earth's, and Atiras orbiting between the Earth and the Sun.
Apollo NEOs also crosses Earth's orbit, but with a major half-axis greater than that of the Earth; The Amors revolve around the Earth and Atiras between the Earth and the Sun.
(NASA JPL)
Scientists have discovered about 20,000 NEO since 1898, though not all of them can be classified as potentially dangerous for the Earth.
According to The Watchers, there have been 29 NEO flyovers that have moved closer to the moon until now in 2019 – and the most active month was March, with eight flyovers closer than the moon.
The South African Astronomical Observatory hosts an instrument of the latest Earthquake Asteroid (Atlas) warning system at Sutherland to monitor dangerous asteroids.
This instrument is funded by NASA and costs $ 3.8 million.
A South African team is actively involved in the search for potentially dangerous NEOs.
"We currently have a small team of astronomers focused on asteroids, but we expect that number to grow when we have our own Atlas telescope in the next two years," said Cunnama.
GET THE NEWS at your fingertips and Download the News24 app for Android here now. Find for your iPhone here.
Keep up to date with the latest news by subscribing to our free newsletter.
– FOLLOW News24 on Twitter
[ad_2]
Source link