NASA Spotted a Bus-Sized Asteroid Heading to Earth in Early 2022; Is It a Threat to The Planet and Humanity?

A bus-sized asteroid will approach Earth at the beginning of the year 2022. However, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said this near-Earth object is unlikely to constitute a substantial hazard.

According to CNBC Indonesia, the 2014 YE15 will approach Earth on January 6 at a safe distance of 4.6 million miles. That is around 19 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.

NASA does not believe asteroid 2014 YE15, which is seven meters broad and the size of a bus, to be a significant hazard because objects larger than 150 meters. Asteroid 2014 YE15 belongs to the Aten asteroids, a group of asteroids orbiting the Sun between Earth and Mercury.

2014 YE15: Discovery and Size

According to Minor Planet Center, experts discovered the object during a 2014 survey of near-Earth objects at the Mt. Lemmon Observatory. It was found on December 28 of that year, only two days before it traveled three times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Despite its size of 42 feet, the small space rock may nevertheless deliver a punch if it collides with Earth. EarthSky said a 66-foot asteroid burst above Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, in 2013, with the equivalent intensity of 26 to 33 nuclear bomb detonation. It smashed windows, flung shards over the region, damaged a few structures, and sent 1,500 people to the hospital with broken glass-related injuries.

Asteroid 2014 YE15 NOT Potentially Hazardous

Asteroids that come dangerously near to Earth are closely monitored by NASA. The Near-Earth Object program at NASA compiles a list of asteroids that pass through our Solar System and estimates the chance of each one colliding with Earth in the next 100 years.

According to NASA, if an asteroid approaches within 4.6 million miles and is larger than 150 meters, it is considered a potentially dangerous object. As mentioned earlier, asteroid 2014 YE15 is not considered a dangerous object due to its small size. At its present distance, it poses no harm to Earth.

Asteroids of such magnitude have the potential to wreak catastrophic devastation if they collide with Earth. In 1908, a 120-foot-wide asteroid hit the atmosphere above Siberia at a speed of around 33,500 miles per hour and burst in the sky. The asteroid exploded with the force of 185 Hiroshima bombs, leveling vast woods.

Why Observing Near-Earth Objects Are Important

Asteroids, per Inverse, reveal information about the Solar System's creation narrative and how to shield the Earth from potential strikes. These near-Earth objects are made up of remanent material from the creation of the Solar System, holding the building blocks for planets and moons. Scientists can learn more about how Earth developed and how the other worlds of the Solar System came to be by analyzing asteroids.

Asteroids also contain valuable minerals such as iron, nickel, and other metals. Although asteroid mining is still a work in progress, scientists are currently detecting asteroids that might make excellent targets.

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