Any fast moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be "potentially hazardous" by cautious space organisations.
The next space rock heading past Earth today will be Asteroid 2020 KD4, which could be as wide as 114 foot.
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A different 98 foot asteroid also skimmed past Earth today but in the very early hours of the morning.
Nasa keeps an eye on objects that will be coming close to Earth but stresses that "a "close" passage astronomically can be very far away in human terms."
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Asteroid, climate change is not responsible for the mass extinction that took place 215 million
New research has come up with surprising information regarding the mass extinction that occurred 215 million years ago.
Researchers from the University of Rhode Island (URI) conducted a complex quantitative analysis of the mass extinction and found that the disappearance of many species did not occur "suddenly or simultaneously" . This has now led to the negation of the earlier theories that the mass extinction was somehow related to one single catastrophic event.
Asteroid which Wiped Out Dinosaurs from the Face of Earth Hit at 'Deadliest Possible' Angle
What remained a mystery was whether it was a direct hit or more of a glancing blow, and which would be more destructive.
As it turns out, according to a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications, the giant space rock struck at the "deadliest possible" angle -- 60 degrees.
The cataclysmic impact kicked up enough debris and gases into the upper atmosphere to radically change the climate, dooming T-Rex and everything it ever hunted to extinction.
Asteroids Bennu And Ryugu May Have Formed Directly From Collision In Space - SpaceRef
a–h Comparison of the Bennu (a, b) and Ryugu (e, f) shape models and the shape profiles of two reaccumulated aggregates (c, d, g, h) from simulation 3 (Table 1). The panels a, c, e, g show the profile of each shape from a polar view, and the panels (b, d, f, h) show the profiles from an equatorial view. The shapes of the reaccumulated remnants are traced in black and are compared to the traced shapes of Bennu (blue dashed line) and Ryugu (red dotted line).
Scientists with NASA's first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, are gaining a new understanding of asteroid Bennu's carbon-rich material and signature "spinning-top" shape.
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Tunguska event may have been caused by iron asteroid that went back into space, researchers say |
The Tunguska event, a seismic blast that rocked a remote Siberian forest more than a century ago, is believed to have been caused by a meteor that exploded before it hit the ground. A new study sheds more light on the asteroid , noting it may have never actually hit Earth at all.
The research, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , theorizes that the asteroid caused a shock wave that resulted in nearly 800 square miles in the Siberian forest to be flattened within seconds, but it never actually hit Earth, as it curved away shortly before breaking up, continuing into space.
Strange, 'Never-Before-Seen' Asteroid Turns Out to Be Something Much More Common
Earlier this month, astronomers announced the discovery of something incredible - a brand new type of asteroid... with a tail.
But in an update, the researchers have announced their original classification was incorrect. The strange object is in fact a comet in disguise, although it doesn't really make it any less odd.
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Comets have long, looping orbits and are loaded up with volatile ices that sublimate, generating a dusty, misty halo and tail when the comet comes close to the Sun.
Mass Extinction 215 Million Years Ago Was NOT Due to Asteroid or Climate Change
According to a new study, the mass extinction that occurred 215 million years ago was not caused by an asteroid hitting Earth or by climate change.
Their research, based on paleontological field work carried out in sediments 227 to 205 million years old in Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, was published in April in the journal Geology .
URI graduate student Reilly Hayes (left) and undergraduate Amanda Bednarick examine an outcrop for fossils at Petrified Forest National Park as part of their research. Credit: Photo courtesy of Amanda Bednarick)
Why asteroids Bennu and Ryugu have their signature 'spinning-top' shapes -- ScienceDaily
Scientists with NASA's first asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx, are gaining a new understanding of asteroid Bennu's carbon-rich material and signature "spinning-top" shape. The team, led by the University of Arizona, has discovered that the asteroid's shape and hydration levels provide clues to the origins and histories of this and other small bodies.
Bennu, the target asteroid for the OSIRIS-REx mission, and Ryugu, the target of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Hayabusa2 asteroid sample return mission, are composed of fragments of larger bodies that shattered upon colliding with other objects. The small fragments reaccumulated to form an aggregate body. Bennu and Ryugu may actually have formed in this way from the same original shattered parent body.
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