Asteroid XW is an Apollo-type rock, meaning it crosses Earth’s orbit on a trajectory similar to Asteroid 1862 Apollo.
NASA estimates the rock measures somewhere in the range of 144ft to 324ft (44m to 99m) in diameter.
At the upper end of NASA’s estimate, the asteroid is taller than Big Ben’s clocktower at Westminster Palace in London.
The asteroid is also taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York, US, and is as long as a football field.
While you're here, how about this:
NASA Baffled: Asteroid Bennu Keeps Spitting Out Small Rocks
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has been orbiting asteroid Bennu since December 2018 , roughly 100 million miles from the Sun. And a recent discovery about the 1,600-foot space rock has scientists scratching their heads, Wired reports : Bennu keeps spitting out rocks, sometimes as large as several feet across, into space.
As detailed in a paper published in the journal Science last week, NASA researchers observed the asteroid ejecting matter "from otherwise unremarkable locations on Bennu." They've observed Bennu spewing out small rocks at least three times now since January 2019.
NASA Asteroid Warning: NEO That Can Destroy Cities Approaching Earth Tonight
NASA is closely monitoring a massive asteroid that follows an Earth-crossing orbit. According to the agency, the space rock is expected to intersect the planet's orbit later tonight.
NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) identified the approaching asteroid as 2019 XW . As indicated in the agency's database, the asteroid has an estimated diameter of 325 feet, making it significantly bigger than the Big Ben clock tower in London.
According to CNEOS, the asteroid is currently flying towards Earth's direction at a speed of almost 35,000 miles per hour.
Europe Officially Signs on for Asteroid-Smashing Effort | Space
The European Space Agency (ESA) has officially approved the Hera mission , which will assess the results of NASA's asteroid-walloping Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).
DART is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in July 2021 and reach the Didymos two-asteroid system in October 2022. The NASA probe will then slam into "Didymoon," the 540-foot-wide (165 meters) satellite of the 2,540-foot-wide (775 m) space rock Didymos.
While you're here, how about this:
Asteroid bombshell: Scientists study Near-Earth Object… but something doesn't add up | Science |
A team of researchers led by Assistant Professor Naoyuki Hiratoa of the Department of Planetology at Kope University’s Graduate School of Science found very different surface patterns and opposite sides of the asteroid. The university in Japan used photos taken by a new unmanned spacecraft called Hayabusa 2 which is owned by the Japan Space Agency (JAXA). Hayabusa 2 has been capturing picture of the potentially hazardous asteroid since June 2018.
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But it was the location of the craters that gave the most clues about the origins of the object.
Why Are Particles Getting Ejected Off of Asteroid Bennu? - Universe Today
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived at asteroid Bennu in December 2018, and just one week later, it discovered something unusual about Bennu: the asteroid was ejecting particles into space.
The spacecraft's navigation camera first spotted the particles, but scientists initially thought they were just stars in the background. After closer scrutiny, the OSIRIS-REx team realized they were particles of rock, and were concerned that they might pose a hazard.
Astronomers catch Earth-bound asteroid firing rocks into space | Newshub
Astronomers studying an asteroid that has a slim chance of colliding with Earth have made a mysterious discovery - it's firing rocks into space.
Bennu, which has a similar orbit to Earth, is currently being orbited by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
The team behind the mission have now revealed they were taken by surprise when just a week later the asteroid began spitting out rocks.
"No one has ever seen an active asteroid up close like this," said University of Arizona astronomer Carl Hergenrother. "It wasn't that long ago that the conventional wisdom was that asteroids are these dead bodies that didn't change very much."
NASA Reveals How It Hunts Monster Asteroids In Pitch-Black Darkness Of Space
An astronomer from NASA explained how the agency uses one of its space telescopes to spot hard-to-see asteroids. This has become one of NASA's leading tools to hunt down asteroids that might pose a threat to Earth.
Currently, the agency has numerous systems in place that were specifically designed to keep track of asteroids that fly near Earth. However, due to the vastness of space and the dark color of asteroids, finding these space rocks against a pitch-black background can be a bit challenging.
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