Asteroid Warning! NASA Issues Alert As Three Asteroids Approaching Earth This Week

Asteroids are ancient space rocks left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago, according to NASA. These space rocks orbit the Sun and are mainly present in the asteroid belt located between Jupiter and Mars.
 
On a few occasions, the orbits of these asteroids bring them close to Earth, a phenomenon known as a ‘Close approach'. NASA has various space and ground-based telescopes to discover and track asteroids in the sky.
 
More than 1 million asteroids have been discovered, and not every one of them is worth worrying about. Scientists pay special attention to the so-called potentially hazardous asteroids.
 
With the help of this advanced technology, the space agency has revealed that not one but two potentially hazardous asteroids will pass Earth this week on 16 and 17 February at extremely close distances.
 
The very first asteroid to pass this week is 2024 CB1 which is around 160 feet in diameter, at a very high speed of 17.54 km/s on 13 February. It will fly by at a distance of just 910,000 kilometres from Earth. Although this distance may seem close, it's important to note that the average distance between the Earth and the moon is about 3 lakh 84 thousand kilometres.
 
The second asteroid to pass Earth on 16 February has been designated as Asteroid 2024 AO by NASA. It is expected to pass Earth at a distance of three million kilometers. As per NASA, it is travelling in its orbit at a speed of 26280 kilometers per hour.
 
Shortly after, on February 16, another hazardous asteroid named 2020 BX12 will come close to our planet. With an estimated size ranging from 450 to 541 feet, traveling at a speed of 16.5 kilometers per second. 2020 BX12 is a binary asteroid of the Apollo group, classified as a potentially hazardous object. It was first observed on January 27, 2020; soon, a satellite orbiting the asteroid was also discovered. With a diameter of about 70 meters, the satellite is less than half the size of the primary component of this binary system. NASA JPL has classified 2020 BX12 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close passes with Earth.
 
As of January 2024, astronomers have detected 2,394 potentially hazardous asteroids, of which 153 are larger than 1 kilometer in diameter. The largest known potentially hazardous asteroid is 1999 JM8 – it is estimated to be about 7 kilometers in diameter.
 
We’d like to emphasize that this data doesn’t mean that all of these asteroids will eventually hit Earth – only that they have the potential to do so. None of these asteroids pose any sufficient risk of impact within the next 100 years.
#asteriod #blackhole #comets #galaxy #isro #jameswebb #nasa #nasaupdates #space #asteroidlive

[BoBo-txsp]

Warning! Asteroids exist! Honestly, I'd just rather not know if an asteroid is going to hit Earth. I have enough to worry about as it is.

[MrBeStack]

Spoiler alert: the title is a click bait title. Want some real fun? Look up asteroid apophis, see you in 2029.