Potentially Hazardous Asteroid To Fly Past Earth At A Closer Distance On September 14

Source: indianexpress.com

Potentially Hazardous Asteroid To Fly Past Earth At A Closer Distance On September 14

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a potentially dangerous is to fly past the Earth closer. It is dated to fly past the Earth on September 14, 2020. 

The asteroid is also known as 2020 QL2. It is wide between 53 meters (174 feet) and 120 meters (393 feet). The asteroid is wider than three, and half Boeing 747 planes are placed side-by-side.

As per the latest data from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA, the asteroid 2020 QL2 will come close at about 6.7 million kilometers to the Earth. The speed of the asteroid is also about 38,624.256 kilometers per hour. The diameter of the asteroid is compared to the size of two professional American football fields. 

The space agency, NASA, assured that the Near-Earth Object (NEO) would pass at a fair distance from the Earth. But it is not likely to hit the Earth. The NEOs can be comets also, but NASA says that most of the NEOs are asteroids. 

Only those asteroids are referred to Potentially Hazardous Asteroids, which have the minimum intersection distance with the Earth’s orbit. And also those whose diameter measures more than 460 feet.

Another potentially hazardous asteroid called ‘2011 ES4’ flew past the Earth on September 1. It was about 22 to 50 meters wide. It came about 1.2 lakh kilometers to the Earth. NASA said that it was the closest asteroid to approach in the next ten years.

 

 

Nikunj Chauhan: