Asteroid hurtling towards Earth at fast pace; Will come dangerously close today!
An asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2023 LT1, is on its way towards Earth today, June 20. The asteroid was spotted by NASA's Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), which is responsible for monitoring the skies and keeping a watch on various Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). Although the asteroid has a relatively small size that can be compared to a small house with a width of around 49 feet, it will come shockingly close to Earth today, June 20.
Asteroid 2023 LT1 is expected to make its closest approach to the planet at a distance of just 686,000 kilometers! NASA has also revealed that it is travelling at a brisk pace of 36980 kilometers per hour. It belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids which are Earth-crossing space rocks with semi-major axes larger than Earth's. They are named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.
NASA tracks asteroids using a combination of ground-based and space-based telescopes. The NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), scans the night sky for moving objects and reports any potential asteroid detections, while some space-based observatories use infrared sensors to detect asteroids and their characteristics. Some of these include the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and the NEOWISE mission.
When the 59 feet wide asteroid over the city of Chelyabinsk exploded, it injured thousands of people. The Chelyabinsk event not only caused millions in damage, but it was a wake-up call too. According to reports, it caused damage to 8000 buildings and left over 1000 people injured.
This incident became a pivotal moment for humans to recognize the terrifying threat that floated above them. It showed the need for
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