The rock will be coming in for its close encounter with Earth in the pre-dawn hours of the morning, zooming past us at 9.24am GMT (4.24am ET)
At 187ft by 426.5ft, the asteroid is “pyramid-shaped” and almost as large as the Great Pyramid of Giza.
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The asteroid will swing by Mars in 2020 and return for another visit of Earth the following year and then again in 2026 and 2028.
In 2017, an asteroid the size of a skyscraper called 2010 NY65 flew past around eight times the distance between the Earth and the moon.
Many things are taking place:
Ryugu Asteroid Impact Crater Analysis Illuminates Complicated Geological History
Photograph of the full disc of the asteroid 162173 Ryugu, as it appeared to the Hayabusa2 spacecraft at 03:50 UTC on June 26, 2018. The photograph was taken by the spacecraft’s Optical Navigation Camera – Telescopic (ONC-T) at a distance of 20 kilometers (12 miles). 162173 Ryugu is the 23rd minor planet studied by a spacecraft in-situ, and is the target of the second ever sample-return mission to an asteroid, Hayabusa2.
Analysis of the impact craters on Ryugu using the spacecraft Hayabusa 2’s remote sensing image data has illuminated the geological history of the Near-Earth asteroid.
NASA mystery: Space agency investigates 'mysterious' objects expelled from asteroid
NASA have admitted they have no clue why a nearby asteroid is “expelling” mysterious material. For the past year NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has been circling a large asteroid named Bennu that regularly passes close to Earth. Images sent back from the OSIRIS-REx has stunned scientists this week after it shows the asteroid randomly flinging off objects into space.
The navigation cameras on OSIRIS-REx captured three bizarre eruptions that each spewed about 100 centimeter-sized asteroid particles into space.
Asteroid news: Meteorite impacts triggered early Earth's plate tectonics | Science | News |
For this reason, scientists have long sought to determine how and when Earth’s surface changed from molten, viscous rock to a solid crust that is constantly resurfacing.
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Despite the best efforts of Earth scientists, this remains one of the biggest unanswered questions about our planet.
Professor Craig O’Neill from Macquarie University believes an asteroid impact in the Archaea could have actually started tectonics on Earth.
Other things to check out:
NASA weighs up four hazardous sampling sites on asteroid Bennu
Since July, NASA has been weighing up four candidate sites for its sampling attempt, which were given the bird-inspired names of Sandpiper, Osprey, Kingfisher and Nightingale. Since then, OSIRIS-REx has been circling the asteroid and gathering images of each site so scientists can closely examine which is most suitable for their means.
This involves looking at how fine the surface material is and therefore how easily it can be collected, along with the topography of the area, the color and the albedo, or reflectivity. These images have revealed a more rugged terrain than NASA had planned and hoped for, void of large clear areas with piles of sandy material that would have been attractive targets and instead strewn with hazardous boulders that could bring the whole thing undone.
Arecibo Observatory seeks upgrades to track asteroids, study space
Geminids 2019: 'King of the meteor showers' to light up sky next week - how to watch?
At three miles (5km) across, the asteroid is one of the largest ever discovered in Solar System and is approximately half the size of the Chicxulub space rock which helped to wipe out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
With a diameter of about 5km, Phaethon is the third largest near-Earth asteroid is classified as potentially hazardous
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The space rock has been named after the son of the Greek sun god Helios who pulled the Sun across the sky.
This asteroid is dangerous and has greater possibility of hitting earth, says NASA
It was on February 20, 1950, that astronomers discovered Asteroid (29075) 1950 DA. After an initial observation of 17 days, this space body faded away from view for more than half a century. However, in 2000, astronomers spotted this asteroid again, and analysis on the rogue space body's trajectory revealed that a close approach on March 16, 2880, could turn deadly for the earth.
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A study conducted by a team of expert researchers suggested that the impact probability of asteroid 1950 DA could be one in 300, or sometimes even more remote.
Happening on Twitter
Gigantic asteroid shaped like pyramid set to shoot past Earth https://t.co/q891YoLOd4 Independent (from London, England) Sat Dec 07 15:45:30 +0000 2019
From our Sun to the asteroid Bennu to Jupiter, this week's #ICYMI is full of deep space exploration!… https://t.co/PuShysB2Hi NASA_Marshall (from Huntsville, Alabama USA) Sun Dec 08 15:30:00 +0000 2019
Bennu and the jets? We're not sure! An unexpected discovery by @OSIRISREx revealed asteroid Bennu is ejecting parti… https://t.co/CYpqwsxjSN NASA Fri Dec 06 00:30:00 +0000 2019
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