A 'potentially dangerous' asteroid is approaching this Friday, May 27, to Earth, according to the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) from NASA.
Its about asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) , that with their 1.8 kilometers in diameter (and four times the size of the Empire State Building), it is the largest asteroid to come close to Earth in 2022.
Now, don't panic, because despite being classified as a "potentially dangerous" asteroid, the probability of impact of that space rock is minimal, according to NASA.
However, said space agency described it as such due to its enormous size and relatively close proximity to the orbit of our planet; and it has been thoroughly studied since if its orbit changes, it could hit our planet, causing serious damage.
The asteroid will pass at 47,200mph (76,000km/h) , 20 faster than a bullet fired from a rifle.
THE APOLLO ASTEROIDS
7335 (1989 JA) is an asteroid of the apollo Class, a classification that encompasses the asteroids close to our planet that they orbit around the sun while periodically crossing the Earth's orbit. Astronomers know about 15,000 such asteroids.
He is one of more than 29,000 near-Earth objects (Near-Earth Objects one or) that NASA tracks each year. NEO refers to any astronomical object that will pass within a few 48 million kilometers from Earth's orbit.
Most of these objects are extremely small; 7335 (1989 JA) it measures more than about 99% of the NEOs that NASA tracks.
WHEN AND HOW TO SEE IT?
This Friday, May 27, asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) will move about 4 million kilometers from our planet, or almost 10 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, around 10:26 EDT (4:30 p.m. in Spain).
Although we will not be able to see it with the naked eye, it will be possible to see it with “a fairly powerful telescope”, as they say from CNET.
You can also watch it live from Virtual Telescope Project.
This asteroid will not come close to Earth again until June 2055, when it will pass even farther, about 70 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.
Infographic showing the effect of the DART impact on the orbit of Didymos B.
WHAT IF IT WAS HEADING STRAIGHT AT US?
It seems that asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) will pass close to our planet... and go away. But, what would happen if it headed straight for us? Is there hope for Earth?
The space agencies They work tirelessly to develop plans and strategies to deal with this situation.
According to the specialized website livescience , in November 2021, NASA launched a spacecraft called Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) , which will collide with the 160-meter-wide asteroid Dimorphos in the fall of 2022.
“Dimorphos is not on a collision course with Earth, but it is close enough and large enough to be a tempting target for the mission.
the collision will not destroy the asteroid completely, but it can slightly change the orbital path of the rock and divert it. We will be watching what happens this fall!