NASA and other major space agencies have been observing space rocks that get too close to the planet Earth. Now they have detected an asteroid which is going to make a pass by Earth, maybe on Friday. As per the latest report, the asteroid called 2019 DN is slated to visit the planet.
On 8th March, the space rock will be at the nearest distance of the Earth, i.e., about 13 lunar distance. It may be noted that one lunar distance means the distance from the earn to Moon. The experts have suggested that the flyby won’t cause any considerable disruption. Now, let’s know more about the asteroid.
The 2019 DN asteroid
As per NASA, the width of the asteroid is around 91 to 200 meters. Well, it is not a type of space rock that can create any threat, but it can cause severe disasters if it hits any populated areas.
To understand this, let’s take an example. In 2013, scientists detected the Chelyabinsk meteor in Russia. That was about 20 meters in width. While passing by the Earth, it became a fireball and exploded. The explosion created a force of 400 kilotons of TNT.
More asteroids are also coming
NASA is also monitoring the movements of two near-Earth space rocks called 1998 OH and 1998 OR2. Based on the trajectories, NASA has termed them potentially hazardous. They are not going to hit the planet but will do a very close flyby. As per the report, spotted in 1998, the 1998 OR2 will pass by the Earth on 29th April. When it will pass, the speed will be around 19,461 miles per hour.
The Principal Investigator of NEAT- Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking system, Eleanor Helin, stated that their goal is to detect and track the dangerous comets and asteroids long before their flyby the Earth. Well, the detection of these two asteroids has proved the capability of NEAT.
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