2023-12-06 13:16:36
The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that asteroid 139622 (2001 QQ142), which has a diameter between 540 and 1,200 meters, and a speed of 6.66 kilometers per second, will fly today at a distance of 5.5 million kilometers, and might pose a danger to Earth. NASA stated, In a statement, the asteroid will approach the Earth at nine o’clock tonight, universal time, where it will be separated from it by a distance of 0.036 astronomical units (the astronomical unit is the unit for measuring distances in space, and is equal to the average distance between the Earth and the sun), that is, a little more than 5.5 million kilometers. She explained that astronomical objects that cross the Earth’s orbit at a distance of up to 0.05 astronomical units, or less than 7.5 million kilometers, are considered dangerous. It is noteworthy that astronomers discovered this asteroid on August 22, 2001, and following it completed a cycle in its orbit, it returned 22 years later. To the “field of view” of space researchers.
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