We know that Asteroids are rocky objects that orbit the Sun. They are much smaller than planets or are called as minor planets.
As per NASA, 994,383 is the count for known asteroids is 994,383. NASA keeps a track record of asteriods to keep the hazardous affect of it away from our solar system or earth.
NASA recently mentioned about an asteroid 465824 2010 FR, which is twice as big as the Pyramid of Giza. It is set to hit the earth’s orbit. It has been classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA).
The huge asteriod is traveling at a speed of 31,400 mph. It is said to enter the Earth’s orbit on September 6, according to NASA scientists.
The asteroid is named as “Near-Earth Object”. The scientists reported that they have been tracking it since 2010. The SUV-sized asteroid was tracked and it passed the Earth’s orbit last month. Even though it was 1,830 miles away, it’s the closest an asteroid has ever been observed near a planet.
This asteroid, dubbed 465824 (2010 FR), will be 4.6 million miles away from the Earth. Even though it poses no threat to our planet, it is still been classified under “close approach” by NASA.
What are NEO’s ?
NASA also explained that earlier similarly sized asteroids have passed by Earth. It was at a similar distance,however, they are difficult to record.
It is easier to record it when it is approaching a certain planet. In such cases the explosion in the atmosphere is usually noticed.
NEOs very rarely moves close to the Earth as they orbit the Sun. But when they do, the NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Study (CNEOS) determines their distance.
NASA defines NEOs as comets. The asteroids are nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into it’s orbits that allows them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood.
Composition of an Asteroid:
Asteriods are composed mostly of water ice with embedded dust particles. Previously an asteroid named “2020 QG” was reported. It was three to six meters long and moving at nearly eight miles per second, as the scientists mentioned.
NASA also announced in 2018 that it had started the construction of DART, which is still scheduled to launch in 2021 . The aim is to slam into the smaller asteroid of the Didymos system at around 6 km per second in 2022. Hera, which is scheduled to launch in 2024, will arrive at the Didymos system in 2027 to measure the impact crater produced by the DART collision and study the change in the asteroid’s orbital trajectory.
According to The Planetary Society, there is an estimation of around 1 billion asteroids which have diameter greater than 1 metre.
Such objects that can cause significant damage on impacting are mostly larger than 30 metres. Every year, around 30 small asteroids hit the Earth. Though they do not cause any major destruction on the ground.
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