Asteroid today: Look out! This 150-foot huge space rock to fly past Earth today
Did you know that asteroids have been responsible for some of the biggest events in history. There have been many incidents in the past which have changed the course of life on the planet. From the Chelyabinsk disaster that claimed many lives to the meteor which caused the extinction of dinosaurs millions of years ago, whenever meteors have crashed on Earth, they have impacted lives. The Planetary Defense Coordination Office is responsible for monitoring the skies and keeping a watch on various Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). If any NEO comes within 8 million kilometers of Earth, the organization red flags the NEO and issues an alert.
Asteroid 2022 UZ5 is expected to make its closest approach to Earth today, November 2. The asteroid is colossal with a width of 150 feet, making it one of the largest asteroids to fly by Earth this month! Asteroid 2022 UZ5 is expected to miss the planet at a distance of just 1.7 million kilometers travelling at a speed of approximately 33840 kilometers per hour. This asteroid has huge destructive potential due to its sheer size and speed and could potentially cause mass destruction if it deviates slightly from its path.
According to the-sky.org, the Asteroid 2022 UZ5 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It was discovered recently on October 18 this year. This asteroid takes just 303 days to complete one trip around the Sun during which its maximum distance from the Sun is 421 million kilometers and nearest distance is 139 million kilometers.
NASA has established a Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), managed in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The PDCO ensures the early detection of potentially hazardous objects (PHOs) - asteroids and comets
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