The newly discovered asteroid “2022 MN1” is preparing to pass near the Earth, tomorrow, Tuesday, at 12:29 pm Mecca time.
Closest point to Earth
The Jeddah Astronomical Society said that the asteroid will be at its closest point, at a distance of 357,240 km, and its apparent brightness (18.24 +), so it will not be seen with the naked eye and there is no danger of it colliding with the planet Earth.
The association added that the diameter of the asteroid “2022 MN1” is 13 meters and moves at a speed of 9.9 kilometers per second, and it is on the list of near-Earth objects, which includes any asteroid whose orbit intersects with the Earth’s orbit.
These asteroids are closely monitored, and thanks to high-resolution observations and celestial mechanical calculations, their orbit is usually known to be of a high level of accuracy.
And the latest high-resolution orbital calculations stated that this asteroid will not collide with the Earth in the near future.
Smaller than the asteroid penetrating the sky of Russia
The asteroid “2022 MN1” is smaller than the asteroid that penetrated the sky of Russia in February 2013, which reached a diameter of 20 meters and disintegrated at a low altitude and released a very high energy that caused a shock wave in the sky that shattered the glass of buildings and human injuries due to flying glass and the arrival of small pieces of remnants That space rock to the surface of the Earth in the form of meteorites.
The Jeddah Astronomical Society pointed out that if the asteroid was on a collision course with the Earth, it would disintegrate above the planet’s atmosphere, and would not cause an “extinction-level catastrophe” and would not have a serious impact on the safety of Earth’s inhabitants.