Two skyscraper-sized asteroids are heading toward Earth this weekend. One is approaching its closest point on Friday (July 29th) and the other on Saturday (July 30th).
first time asteroidcalled 2016 CZ31, flew around 7pm EDT (23:00 GMT) on Friday and has a speed of 34,560 mph (55618 km/h). According to NASA (opens in new tab)。
Astronomers estimate that the asteroid is about 400 feet (122 meters) wide at its widest point, as wide as a 40-story building.Asteroid passes from a distance of 1,740,000 miles (2,800,000 km) and safely misses our planet land -or more than 7 times the average distance to Earth moon. According to NASA, this space rock will approach Earth every few years, with the next space rock scheduled for January 2028.
Related: Why do asteroids and comets have strange shapes? (opens in new tab)
On Saturday, a second large asteroid will pass our planet, albeit at a great distance from Earth. The asteroid, named 2013 CU83, is about 600 feet (183 meters) wide at its widest visible point and is about 4.32 million miles (6,960,000 km) from Earth, or about 18 times the average distance between Earth and the Moon. pass through.
This giant space rock will travel 13,153 miles per hour (21,168 km/h) as it approaches Earth at 7:37 PM ET (23:37 GMT).
Both of these close encounters go far beyond Asteroid 2022NF (opens in new tab)reached within 56,000 miles (90,000 km) on July 7, or about 23% of the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
NASA and other space agencies keep a close eye on thousands of such NEOs. Even if an asteroid’s path is millions of miles away from our planet, it’s very unlikely that the asteroid’s orbit will change slightly after it interacts. gravity Larger bodies such as planets. Even small changes like that could put the asteroid on a collision course with Earth on future flights.
As such, space agencies take planetary defense very seriously. In November 2021, NASA launched an asteroid-deflecting spacecraft called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART). It will collide directly with the 525-foot (160 m) wide asteroid Demophos. autumn (opens in new tab) 2022. Collisions do not destroy asteroids, but they may. Alter Space Rock’s orbital path (opens in new tab) A little, Live Science previously reported. The mission will help test the feasibility of asteroid deflection if one of the future asteroids poses an imminent danger to our planet.
Originally published on Live Science.