A massive asteroid the size of BUS will make a very close approach to Earth today

A massive asteroid the size of BUS will make a very close approach to Earth today – and astronomers only detected it three DAYS ago

• The asteroid, called 2022 NF, is between 5.4 and 12 meters in diameter
• It will come within 54,843.9 miles of our planet at approximately 2:45 p.m. BST
• Experts only found the asteroid on July 4th using a telescope in Hawaii

By Shivali Best For Mailonline

Published: 05:38 EDT, 7 July 2022 | Updated: 05:39 EDT, 7 July 2022

An asteroid the size of the London bus will make a very close approach to Earth today, although it was only detected a few days ago.

The asteroid, called 2022 NF, will be within 54,843.9 miles of our planet at approximately 2:45 p.m. BST, according to NASA.

To put it in perspective, that’s just over a quarter of the distance from the Moon at its closest point to Earth, which is 225,623 miles away.

Fortunately, NASA’s calculations suggest that the massive space rock will safely pass through our planet — although the space agency hasn’t ruled out an asteroid collision in the near future.

The asteroid, called 2022 NF, will come within 54,843.9 miles of our planet at approximately 2:45 p.m. BST, according to NASA (stock image)

What is a ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid?

A potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) is an asteroid whose orbit is closer than 0.05AU (about 7.5 million km) to Earth.

It is also at least 100 meters (300 feet) in diameter.

The International Astronomical Union claims there are about 1,500 potentially dangerous asteroids.

While this is not yet a risk to Earth, an asteroid of this size has the potential to cause destruction if it lands on our planet, especially in densely populated areas.

It is believed that someone hits the Earth once every 200-300 years.

2022 NF was discovered using data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) – a Hawaii-based camera and telescope system.

Despite making its closest approach to Earth today, it is remarkable that the asteroid was only identified on July 4.

Measurements show that the asteroid measures between 17.7 and 39.3 feet (5.4 and 12 meters) in diameter.

At the higher-than-expected end, the 2022 NF is roughly the same size as the original London Routemaster bus!

During its close approach, the asteroid will be traveling at a dizzying speed of 24,606 miles per hour – about 12 times faster than a bullet.

While the probability of this asteroid hitting Earth is very low, NASA has not ruled out the possibility of an asteroid collision in the near future.

NASA discovers about 30 new ‘near-Earth objects’ (NEOs) every week, and by early 2019 had discovered a total of over 19,000 objects.

However, the space agency has warned its NEO catalog is incomplete, meaning unforeseen impacts could occur “at any time.”

NASA explains: ‘Experts estimate that the impact of an object the size of which exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 – measuring about 55 feet (17 meters) – occurred once or twice in a century.

2022 NF discovered using data from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) – a Hawaii-based system of cameras and telescopes

‘The impacts of larger objects are expected to be much less frequent (on a scale of centuries to thousands of years).

‘However, given the current incompleteness of the NEO catalogue, unforeseen impacts – such as the Chelyabinsk event – ​​could occur at any time.’

To help prepare for such an impact, NASA recently launched its first ‘planetary defense’ spacecraft to deflect an asteroid 6.8 million miles from Earth.

The $325 million (£240 million) Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission launches in November 2021, and will take 10 months to complete its nearly seven million-mile journey into space.

The probe will hit the small asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits the larger asteroid Didymos, at 15,000 mph (24,100 km/h) in September 2022.

When the 1,210 pound spacecraft hit Dimorphos, the plan was to change the speed of the ‘moonlet’ by a fraction of a percent, echoing the plot for the Bruce Willis film ‘Armageddon’.

Although the 525-foot-wide space rock poses no danger to Earth, NASA wanted to measure the altered asteroid’s orbit caused by the collision.

This ‘planetary defense’ demonstration will inform future missions that could one day save Earth from a deadly asteroid impact.

WHAT IS NASA’S DART MISSION?

DART will be the world’s first planetary defense test mission.

It’s headed for the small asteroid Moonlet Dimorphos, which orbits a larger companion asteroid called Didymos.

When it gets there it will accidentally hit the asteroid to slightly change its orbit.

While neither asteroid poses a threat to Earth, DART’s kinetic impact will prove that the spacecraft can independently navigate to the target asteroid and kineticly impact it.

Then, using Earth-based telescopes to measure the effects of impacts on the asteroid system, the mission will enhance its modeling and predictive capabilities to help us better prepare for the true asteroid threat if found.

DART will arrive at Dimorphos in October 2022, where it will purposely hit the asteroid at 15,000 mph. This collision would change the speed of Dimorphos in its orbit around Didymos by a fraction of a percent, changing the orbital period by a few minutes.

Advertisement

Share or comment on this article:

#massive #asteroid #size #BUS #close #approach #Earth #today