Huge ‘potentially dangerous’ asteroid twice the size of Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, will sweep past Earth next month, NASA reveals
- The asteroid – 231937 (2001 FO32) – was first discovered by astronomers in 2001
- It will be about 1.2 million miles from Earth by March at its closest approach
- This is about five times farther away than the moon, but it is still considered a risk
- The rock travels around the sun at about 77,000 mph every 2.22 Earth years
- Potentially dangerous is any large asteroid that comes within 4.5 million miles of Earth and ‘could’ hit the planet at some point in the future of the solar system
A massive, miles wide asteroid twice the size of the world’s tallest building will “skim” past Earth in March and has been labeled “potentially dangerous” by NASA.
The asteroid, dubbed 231937 (2001 FO32), is unlikely to hit Earth, as it will be 1.2 million miles from the planet – five times farther than the moon.
However, NASA calls any space rock that comes within 150 million miles of us a “Near Earth Object,” which is three-quarters of the 120 million miles away from Mars.
The more than a mile wide and a half mile long space rock will come closest to our planet at approximately 16:03 GMT on March 21, 2021 and has been branded as ‘potentially dangerous’ because it ‘could’ hit the planet at some point in the future of the solar system.
Asteroid 231937 is the largest space rock to come ‘close’ to Earth this year, and at 1.7 km is more than twice the size of the tallest building on Earth – the Burj Khalifa.
It should be possible to see the asteroid through a telescope with an aperture of 20 cm, just after sunset on March 21, looking slightly above the southern horizon.
Asteroid 231937 is the largest space rock to come ‘close’ to Earth this year and at 1.7 km is more than twice the size of the tallest building on Earth – the Burj Khalifa
NASA calls any space rock that comes within 150 million miles of us a ‘Near Earth Object’, which is three-quarters of the 120 million miles away from Mars
The asteroid was first discovered in 2001 by a series of telescopes in New Mexico that are part of the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program.
The MIT project, funded by the United States Air Force and NASA, detected the space rock on March 23, 2001 and has been observed ever since.
Using those observations, astronomers calculated its orbit, found how close it would get to Earth, and determined it would go 77,000 mph.
SpaceReference.org wrote about the asteroid: ‘Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2001 FO32 is likely 0.767 to 1.714 kilometers in diameter, making it larger than ~ 97% of the asteroids, but small in comparison with large asteroids. ‘
The asteroid and Earth can be seen to the left of this orbital map on Earth’s ‘blue’ orbit line – the asteroid’s orbit is visible through the tall white lines
It should be possible to see the asteroid through a telescope with an aperture of 20 cm, just after sunset on March 21, looking slightly above the southern horizon. The pink dot is the asteroid and the lighter area is the sky seen from the UK on March 21 after sunset
You may be able to see the space rock as it races past the planet in March if you have a telescope with an opening of at least eight inches.
The asteroid will be low in the southern sky, so according to EarthSky.org, it can be difficult to see from the northern hemisphere.
To find it, look just above the horizon in the southern sky through the southern constellations of Scorpio and Sagittarius.
It will be visible in the southern sky just above the horizon, just after sunset if viewed from the UK and just before sunrise if viewed from the south of the US.
NASA is closely monitoring all Near Earth Asteroids to determine if they are close to hitting the planet.
A huge, miles-wide asteroid twice the size of the world’s tallest building – the Burj Khalifa (center of photo) – will “ skim ” Earth in March
It’s a broad definition – covering every object within about 150 million miles of the Earth – the ones called ‘dangerous’ come within 4.6 million miles and are at least 150 feet wide.
According to NASA, there are currently no asteroids that pose a significant risk to life on Earth for at least the next century, with only one having a 0.2 percent chance of hitting the planet by 2185.
Meanwhile, space agencies around the world are investigating possible solutions to prevent a future asteroid from hitting Earth.
NASA has looked at using the gravity of a flying spacecraft to pull “an asteroid” into a new trajectory.
Astronomers hunt for asteroids larger than 450 feet because they can cause ‘catastrophic damage’
Researchers have discovered most asteroids that are about a kilometer in size, but are now on the hunt for asteroids that are about 140 meters long – because they can cause catastrophic damage.
While no one knows when the next major impact will occur, scientists are under pressure to predict – and intercept – its arrival.
Artist’s impression depicted
‘Sooner or later we will have … a small or big impact,’ says Rolf Densing, head of the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt.
It may not happen in our lifetime, he said, but “the risk of a devastating event hitting the Earth one day is very high.”
“We can’t do much for the time being.”
Source: AFP