[우주를 보다] 1.8 km in diameter… Giant asteroid caught near Earth (Video)

<!—-> ▲ Appearance of asteroid ‘7335’ (hereinfollowing referred to as 1989 JA)

A giant asteroid four times the size of the Empire State Building in the United States has been caught on camera approaching Earth. The Virtual Telescope Project, an Italian online observatory, announced on the 27th (US local time) that it succeeded in capturing the asteroid ‘7335’ (hereinfollowing referred to as 1989 JA), which passed closest to Earth on the same day.

If you look at the released video, it is confirmed that a small dot crosses the dark night sky at high speed. 1989 JA, which is considered to be the largest asteroid to visit Earth this year, has a diameter of 1.8 km and a speed of 76,000 km/h. On that day, 1989 JA passed a distance of regarding 4 million km and had no effect on Earth.

▲ The appearance of ‘7335’ (hereinfollowing referred to as 1989 JA) captured by The Virtual Telescope Project

Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Marci, who photographed the asteroid, said, “In collaboration with astronomical telescopes in Rome, Australia and Chile, we were able to photograph 1989 JA. “It means we can better capture celestial objects that can have an impact.”

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Center for Near-Earth Astronomy (CNEOS), 1989 JA is classified as a ‘potentially threatened asteroid’ (PHA).

▲ Numerous celestial bodies in the solar system that threaten the earth

CNEOS classifies asteroids with a diameter of 140 m or larger that approach the Earth within regarding 7.5 million km as PHAs. It is because they believe that even an asteroid with a diameter of regarding 140m can destroy a country if it crashes to Earth.

NASA is tracking near-earth objects (NEOs) that pass within regarding 48 million kilometers of Earth’s orbit, and the number is as high as 29,000.

By Park Jong-ik, staff reporter [e-mail]