A huge near-Earth object the size of the Statue of Liberty is expected to pass by Earth's orbit in a few days. The massive space rock known as 2021 NY1 and 17 other incoming asteroids that NASA is watching are anticipated to reach Earth in September.
SpaceReference said the diameter of 2021 NY1 is 130-300 meters, compared to 93 meters for the Statue of Liberty. Because the near-Earth object will pass Earth at a safe distance of 930,487 miles, NASA said people should not worry about having a collision.
The moon is orbiting Earth at a distance of 238,855 kilometers. As a result, the asteroid will not pose a threat!
The 2021 QC1, which has a smaller (but still amazing!) diameter of 71-160 meters, is another asteroid under NASA's observation. This huge asteroid will orbit the Earth at a safe distance of three million miles.
What Is A Near-Earth Object?
NASA said a near-Earth object (NEO) is an asteroid or comet that orbits the Sun at a distance of 195 million kilometers (121 million miles), passing within 50 million kilometers (30 million miles) of Earth's orbit. Asteroids and comets follow the same orbit as planets around the Sun. As a result, asteroids may have collided with some of the planets' smaller moons.
Small asteroids the size of a few meters are detected many times a month, passing between Earth and the moon's orbit.
Meteoroids, which are minuscule fragments of asteroids and comets with a diameter of fewer than 3 feet (1 meter), collide with Earth's atmosphere and explode practically every day, producing spectacular meteor showers humans see at night and occasionally leaving meteorites on the ground.
No known asteroid has a significant risk of colliding with Earth in the next 100 years. The asteroid 2009 FD in 2185 has a 1 in 714 chance of hitting, implying that it crashes less than 0.2 percent.
The Sentry Impact Risk Table is updated regularly by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for NEO Studies when new asteroids are found and old asteroids are studied more closely.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post, citing NASA, said that the asteroid Bennu may hit Earth between now and 2300. Since 1999, NASA has been watching asteroid Bennu, classified as 'possibly dangerous to human existence.
Even though Bennu is a hazardous asteroid in the solar system, it is thought that there is a very little possibility of it crashing with Earth.
In addition to collecting a sample, OSIRIS-REx will look at how light absorbed from the Sun and re-radiated by Bennu affects its trajectory and how that orbit may become increasingly dangerous for Earth.
Asteroid Defense Plan
The only natural disaster we may be able to avert right now is an asteroid impact. NASA is looking into a few options for diverting an asteroid as it approaches Earth.
Science Times said that NASA approved the Near-Earth Object Surveyor (NEO) space telescope surveyor a few months ago. The 20-foot (6-meter) infrared telescope would aid planetary security by helping astronomers find comets and asteroids that approach Earth's orbit within the 48 million kilometers (30 million miles) range. The space agency is expected to launch NEO Surveyor by 2026.
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