NASA reveals asteroid approaching Earth today; Check its speed, distance here
In the midst of all the asteroid flybys in the past few months, NASA has now warned that another space rock is heading speedily straight towards an Earth rendesvouz. The asteroid is potentially hazardous and possesses the capability of causing a major catastrophe. Worryingly, this asteroid was discovered just a week ago on November 16. What adds to the worry is its sheer size and the speed at which it is rapidly speeding towards Earth. Know its details here, as per NASA.
NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office has issued an alert against an asteroid named Asteroid 2022 WO. The asteroid, with a size ranging anywhere between 52 feet and 114 feet, is expected to fly past Earth today, November 24, but at an extremely close distance. This hurtling space rock will make its closest approach to the planet at a distance of just 3.9 million kilometers. The asteroid is already on its way towards Earth, travelling at a blistering speed of 30361 kilometers per hour.
According to the-sky.org, Asteroid 2022 WO was discovered nearly a week ago, on November 16. It belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and orbits the Sun in around 859 days. During this orbit, the asteroid's farthest point from the Sun is at a distance of 389 million kilometers and its nearest point is 140 million kilometers.
NASA conducts surveys done using its ground-based telescopes such as the Pans-STARRS1 in Maui, Hawaii, as well to identify thousands of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). As of now, nearly 28,000 near-Earth asteroids have been discovered using various survey telescopes which track objects in the sky.
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