One of the widely accepted theories regarding the extinction of dinosaurs is the collision of an asteroid towards the Earth about 65 million years ago. With the advancement of our technology in space probes, we can now monitor celestial rocks and other heavenly bodies that could threaten our planet and its inhabitants. Just recently, NASA revealed that an asteroid the size of a house is making its close approach to Earth.
Space Rock is Coming Our Way
Most of the near-Earth objects do not immediately threaten our planet. However, a distinct group of potentially dangerous asteroids becomes the focus of astronomers. They need to be observed in advance.
An asteroid named JD 2023 will make its closest proximity to Earth on May 10, 2023, at 1.3 million kilometers. It is a celestial rock belonging to the Apollo group of near-Earth objects, composed of large asteroids and space rocks. As a colossal asteroid measuring 52 feet wide and 60 feet high, it is roughly the size of a house. It is on its way towards the Earth at a rapid speed of 34 853 kilometers per hour.
According to HT Tech, the proximity of JD 2023 may be a subject of concern, but its size does not pose a potentially hazardous threat to Earth. In its recent asteroid alerts and warnings, NASA confirmed that this asteroid is roughly the size of a house.
The space agency also explained that an asteroid must be at least 96 kilometers wide to bring a serious catastrophe to our planet.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA classified this space rock as Aten, which are Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) crossing the Earth with small semi-major axes. It is one of the next five Earth approaches within 4.6 million miles, the other four being 2023 HT4, 2023 JG, 2021 JK7, and 2023 GY2.
READ ALSO : Largest 'Potentially Hazardous' Near-Earth Objects Predicted To Have a Close Flyby in 2023
A Closer Look at Asteroids
Asteroids are minor planets that orbit within the inner region of the Solar System between Mars and Jupiter. They are relatively small chunks of rocky minerals orbiting the Sun but do not meet the requirements to be categorized as planets.
In some cases, the orbits of the asteroids can be affected by the massive gravity of Jupiter or by occasional encounter with other planets. This encounter can sometimes displace the asteroids out of the main belt and throw them in al directions, crossing the orbits of other planets.
In the past few months, asteroids have passed safely near the Earth, but it does not mean that collision with the Earth is impossible. An impact event between the Earth and these space rocks can cause damage with varying degrees of severity. If an asteroid hits a densely populated area, it could result in millions of deaths, while an impact on the water can lead to massive flooding along the coastlines.
NASA relies on its highly automated collision monitoring system, Sentry, which scans the current asteroid catalog to predict the possibilities of impact events over the next 100 years.
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