NASA Detects Massive Asteroid Thrice The Size Of Statue Of Liberty To Pass By Earth Wednesday; Should We Be Alarmed?

NASA said an asteroid three times the size of the Statue of Liberty is hurtling towards Earth. Its route, fortunately, is slated to skim barely beyond Earth, presenting no hazard.

NASA designated the asteroid 2017 AE3 as a "near approach" space rock, and space agencies will monitor it closely. The asteroid is expected to pass Earth early morning Wednesday.

It can be up to 260 meters (853 feet) wide. It would be about three times the size of the Statue of Liberty. According to the Jerusalem Post, it would be nearly two times bigger the size of Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza and 1.15 times the size of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge at its full height.

At roughly 47,000 miles per hour, a huge asteroid is predicted to go over without causing any problems. The asteroid's closest approach to Earth will be 3.1 million kilometers, much above the safe distance. Anything travelling within 120 million miles of Earth is classified as a Near-Earth Object, The US Sun said.

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Why Asteroid Passes By Planet

News 18 said our solar system is replete with enormous space rocks orbiting the Sun, whose paths are regularly shifted due to planets' gravitational attraction.

Asteroids are cosmic objects that seldom collide with Earth, but they inflict catastrophic consequences when they do. As a result, asteroids bigger than 150 meters in diameter are classified as potentially hazardous objects by NASA, maintaining a close eye on them.

According to the Davidson Institute of Science research, a huge asteroid colliding with Earth would release energy a thousand times greater than the first atomic bomb.

Furthermore, a larger asteroid, such as Apophis, about 300 meters wide, might wipe out an entire continent.

In this regard, NASA's database of near-Earth objects regularly updates the list of three potentially harmful large asteroids approach. According to the list, eight additional asteroids will make a pass by next month.

How to Track the Massive Asteroids That Will Pass By Earth

Experts are well aware of how dangerous asteroids, especially little ones, could be. Furthermore, space groups all around the globe are keeping an eye out for potential disastrous consequences and figuring out how to avoid them.

One of the options for perhaps averting an asteroid impact is deflection, which releases anything to adjust an asteroid's path gently.

The most obvious of these endeavors is the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) Mission, which NASA and the Applied Physics Laboratory are now carrying out.

For those unaware, there is an asteroid tracker that allows users to learn more about NEOs (near-Earth objects). Those interested in learning more about the asteroid tracker should go to this page.