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An asteroid will fly past Earth today, and space research organization NASA is keeping an eye on it, according to reports. Space rock appears to be destined to fly over the planet at a distance of 429,846 miles about 200,000 miles farther than the Moon is on average from Earth.
The asteroid is moving at a speed of 5.2 km per second, which is similar to 19,000 km per hour. It is only about six meters wide according to NASA observations, and if it had an impact on the planet, it would simply burn up Earth’s atmosphere, appearing as if it were a shooting star.
Asteroid to fly beyond the Earth
Pixabay
After flying over the planet, the rock, which takes the name of 2020 WC4, will continue its journey around the Sun, as reported by Express Online. NASA has classified it as a near-Earth object that allows them to study what’s in the solar system.
“NEOs are comets and asteroids that have been propelled by the gravitational pull of nearby planets in orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood. The scientific interest in comets and asteroids is largely due to their debris status. relatively unchanged of the solar system’s formation process about 4.6 billion years ago, “said NASA.
“The giant outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) have formed an agglomeration of billions of comets, and the remaining parts of the formation process are the comets we see today,” the organization added.
New research has revealed that Earth is not safe from asteroids, leaving aside one named Apophis. Last month, an astronomer revealed that the 370-meter asteroid can hit Earth. Researchers had initially ruled out a collision in 2068, but a study shows there is a small chance that space rock could hit Earth.
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