Scientists at the US Space Agency, NASA, are awaiting a potentially dangerous asteroid, the size of which is approximately the size of a blue whale, that will pass near Earth on Friday.
The asteroid, named 2015 FF, has an estimated diameter of between 13 and 28 metres, which is equal to the length of an object the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), and it will pass the Earth at a speed of 33,012 km per hour, according to “Live Science”.
Closest to the point the asteroid reaches from Earth
at its closest point of EarthAn asteroid traveling at more than 27 times the speed of sound would be regarding 4.3 million kilometers from Earth, just over 8 times the average distance between Earth and the Moon, and by cosmic standards, that’s close.
NASA defines any space object within 193 million km of Earth as a “Near-Earth Object”, and any fast-moving object within 7.5 million km is classified as “Potentially Hazardous.”
Once the objects are marked, astronomers watch them closely, looking for any deviations from their expected trajectories such as an unexpected bounce off another asteroid, or anything that might put them on a devastating collision course with Earth.
NASA data on asteroids approaching Earth
NASA knows the location and orbit of nearly 28,000 asteroids, which it identifies using the Last Terrestrial Collision Alert System (ATLAS), a group of four telescopes capable of scanning the entire night sky once every 24 hours.
NASA has estimated the trajectories of all objects that will approach Earth over the course of this century, and the good news is that Earth has not faced a known danger of a terrible asteroid collision for at least 100 years, according to the agency.
But that doesn’t mean space watchers think they should stop looking. Although the majority of NEOs may not end human civilization, like the catastrophic comet that ended the lives of dinosaurs, there are still plenty of impacts to watch out for.
