During 2020, the Space Agency announced that several objects passed close to our planet; one asteroid in particular attracted attention for its enormous dimensions
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NASA constantly monitors potentially dangerous asteroids that could impact Earth. During 2020, the space agency announced that several objects passed close to our planet. The eyes of experts are on a particular space rock because it could have a devastating effect due to its enormous dimensions: end all civilization.
The asteroid in question is the 52768 (1998 OR), discovered in 2017. It is 1.8 kilometers long and 4.1 kilometers in diameter. It is constantly studied by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was classified as a potentially dangerous object that could cause the “end of the world”.
Asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2 ) passed Earth several hours ago at a distance 16 times farther away than the Moon (see vid below for scale). The asteroid’s future trajectory has been calculated for the next 200 years: it isn’t a threat to Earth during that time either. pic.twitter.com/Ysh6Rwxl5M
– Dr. James O’Donoghue (@physicsJ) April 30, 2020
The closest approach he had 3122 (1998 OR) was the 1200 last April when he found himself at a distance of 6, 29 million kilometers from Earth at a speed of about 31, 000 kilometers per hour.
For reference, it is believed that the meteorite that struck the Tunguska River, in eastern Siberia al en 1908, I had only 20 meters in diameter; its detonation released an energy equivalent to 1, 000 nuclear bombs over Hiroshima. In that sense, the impact of the asteroid 52768 (1998 OR) could have catastrophic consequences for life on Earth.
However, It was not the largest space object to approach our planet. In 2017, the asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3), with a diameter of about 4.9 kilometers, approached 7 million kilometers away.
And last August, the asteroid named 2020 QG, the size of a car, was the closest space object ever recorded: it went to 2, 1200 kilometers over the Indian Ocean. NASA admitted that they “didn’t see it coming.”
# asteroid 2020 QG, discovered by @ ztfsurvey and roughly 10 to 29 feet (3 to 6 meters) across, is very small by asteroid standards and would likely break up in Earth’s atmosphere if it were to impact our planet. Learn more: https://t.co/pz6a9XnCpK pic.twitter.com/bJ6AOOj4DH
– NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) August 20, 2020
According to the space agency, if the asteroid had been on an impact path, it would have turned into a “fireball” when breaking in the Earth’s atmosphere, so it did not represent any kind of danger.
There are millions of small asteroids that are difficult to discover until they get too close to Earth. “The asteroid approached undetected from the direction of the Sun. We did not see it coming,” said Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) in California.
“It’s really cool to see a small asteroid coming so close, because we can see that Earth’s gravity drastically bends its trajectory,” said Chodas. According to the calculations of specialists, the asteroid revolved around 45 degrees when it passed the planet.
