An asteroid slightly smaller than the largest structure in the U.S. is slated to harmlessly zoom past Earth later this month.
Known as 2006 SF6, the space rock will zip past Earth on Nov. 20 at approximately 2.7 million miles (0.02886 astronomical units) at roughly 12:01 a.m. EDT, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies , which tracks near-Earth objects.
According to a 2018 report put together by Planetary.org, there are more than 18,000 NEOs.
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"Potentially hazardous" NEOs are defined as space objects that come within 0.05 astronomical units and measure more than 460 feet in diameter, according to NASA .
Asteroid 2006 SF6, which was discovered on Sept. 17, 2006, is believed to be between 919 feet and 2,034 feet in diameter, slightly smaller than the KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, S.D., the tallest structure in the U.S. and fourth tallest in the world.
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An Asteroid the Size of a Skyscraper Just Flew by Earth (Video) | Space
An enormous asteroid flew by Earth today (Oct. 25), and you can watch it zip by in a video from the Virtual Telescope Project.
Asteroid 1998 HL1 was 3.86 million miles (6.21 million kilometers) away from Earth — about 10 times the average distance to the moon — when it makes its closest approach at 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 GMT), according to NASA .
Video: Giant Asteroid 1998 HL1 Seen by Virtual Telescope Project
Related: Potentially Dangerous Asteroids (Images)
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Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project captured this image of the potentially hazardous asteroid 1998 HL1 on Oct. 23, 2019, at 1:41 p.m. EDT (1741 GMT), when the asteroid was about 4.1 million miles (6.6 million kilometers) away from Earth. The image comes from a single 300-second exposure captured remotely using the Virtual Telescope Project’s Elena telescope. The telescope tracked the asteroid’s movement, so the asteroid appears as a white dot in front of a background of star trails.
Asteroid alert: NASA tracks two rocks flying towards Earth - Will the asteroids hit?
NASA has dubbed both asteroids Near-Earth Objects or NEOs flying close to Earth’s orbit of the Sun.
NEOs are all asteroids and comets that race around the Sun from a distance of 1.3 astronomical units.
NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) keep a watchful eye on these objects to determine if they pose a threat to Earth.
ESA said: “The term ‘near-Earth object’ basically refers to any natural object, like an asteroid, whose orbit brings it close to Earth.
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“Of these, around 20,000 are near-Earth objects, 800 of which are in ESA's risk list, meaning that they merit close follow-up observations.”
NASA estimates the small rock measures somewhere in the range of 25.2ft to 55.7ft (7.7m to 17m) across.
The space rock is flying through space at speeds of around 7.01km per second or 15,680mph (25,236kph).
Asteroid news: NASA tracks a swarm of rocks flying towards Earth up to speeds of 53,800mph |
Based on NASA’s calculations, the asteroid measures between 46ft and 101.7ft (14m and 31m) across.
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When this happened, NASA said the space rock reached speeds of around 5.59km per second or 12,504mph (20,124kph).
When the asteroid arrived close to Earth it was travelling at speeds of around 6.40km per second or 14,316mph (23,040kph).
Asteroid TM7 is estimated to be flying at speeds of around 24.05km per second or 53,798mph (86,580kph).
NASA’s trackers estimate TP5 closed-in on Earth from a distance of 0.02102 astronomical units (au).
A single astronomical unit describes the distance from Earth to the Sun – about 93 million miles (149.6 million km).
Other things to check out:
New asteroid threat as 50ft space rock is added to space agency's 'risk list' and could hit Earth
The European Space Agency (ESA) said the space rock, identified as 2019 SU3, could smash into Earth less than 70 years from now.
The 46-foot asteroid has been added to the ESA's Risk List due to its chances of hitting Earth in the future.
Based on the data collected by the ESA, the asteroid's potential Earth impact might take place on 16 September 2084.
During this time, the asteroid is expected to whizz past Earth from a distance of only 0.00079 astronomical units or roughly 73,435 miles away.
Given this relatively short distance (in space terms), a slight nudge could easily send the asteroid crashing to Earth, according to the IB Times.
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As well as being on the Risk List, 2019 SU3 is also in the agency's Priority List, which means the ESA is keeping a close eye on the asteroid's trajectory.
Asteroid shock: NASA spot space rock only 10 days ago which is due to skim earth tomorrow |
One LD is the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, or 384,400 km – so 2019 UG11 will come within 192,000 kilometres of our planet on October 29.
While this may seem like a sizeable distance, it is close enough for NASA to sit up and take notice and class it as a Near Earth Object (NEO) and allow the space agency to study the history of our solar system.
NASA set on its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) website: “NEOs are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighbourhood.
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“The scientific interest in comets and asteroids is due largely to their status as the relatively unchanged remnant debris from the solar system formation process some 4.6 billion years ago.
2019 TA7: This 111 Foot-wide Asteroid Just Made Its Closest Approach to Earth in 115 Years
An asteroid passed by Earth last night in what was the object's closest approach in more than a century.
The space rock, known as 2019 TA7, safely flew by our planet, at a distance of around 930,000 miles at 6:53 p.m. EDT on Monday, according to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS.) This is about four times the distance from the Earth to the moon.
This is the space rock's closest approach since 1904, when it skimmed past the Earth at a distance of 1.8 million miles, according to figures from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory .
During yesterday's approach, the space rock—which is estimated to measure between 49 and 111 feet in diameter—was travelling at speeds of around 23,700 miles per hour relative to the Earth.
2019 TA7 recently made another close approach to Earth just a few months ago in June although it was much further away, flying past at a distance of roughly 41 million miles away. Its next close approach to our planet will take place in October 2021, when it will likely be around 14.6 million miles away.
Asteroid news: NASA spot 620m behemoth space rock set to pass Earth on Boxing Day | Science |
From time to time, the orbits of these asteroids intersect with that of Earth as the planet goes around the giant star.
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If the asteroids approach these planets at very close distances, they can get affected by their gravitational pull, altering the space rocks’ trajectories.
An impact event caused by any of these asteroids, including 2019 TR2, would decimate large regions of the planet.
At its closest, the asteroid will approach Earth from a distance of 0.04874 astronomical units (au).
A single astronomical unit is the distance between our planet and the Sun – about 93 million miles (149.6 million km).
These asteroids have either run out of ices to vaporise and lost their comet-like activity, or have entered a dormant period where none of their ices are exposed to sunlight.
Happening on Twitter
Massive 2,000-foot asteroid to whiz past Earth later this month https://t.co/0zPaFwJBM4 FOXLA (from Los Angeles, CA) Wed Nov 06 02:03:25 +0000 2019
SO COOL! A massive 2,000-pound, 15 foot great white shark named Unama'ki was tagged in Canada last month and has al… https://t.co/caSpcgk8kV wsvn (from Miami / Fort Lauderdale) Mon Oct 28 14:35:13 +0000 2019
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