Don't panic: An asteroid larger than the Empire State Building is flying past Earth this weekend but we're just fine
(2020/06/06)
- Reference: 1591407848
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/06/06/dont_freak_out_but_an/
- Source link:
An asteroid described as larger than the Empire State Building will whizz past Earth, making its closest approach on 6 June.
Stretching up to 570 meters across, the space rock is bigger than the iconic skyscraper in the skyline of Manhattan, New York at 381 meters. Although the sheer size of the looming asteroid known as [1]2002 NN4 is pretty frightening, it’s expected to pass within 3.2 million miles of our planet or roughly 13 times the distance between the Earth and Moon.
The near-Earth object is larger than 90 per cent of most asteroids and has been on NASA’s watchlist for awhile. It was classified as a “potentially hazardous asteroid” when it was discovered in 2002.
Asteroid 2002 NN4 will safely pass by Earth on June 6 by over 13 lunar distances (LD) - 13 times the distance of the Moon from Earth, or approx. 3.2 million miles/5.1 million km. All known near-Earth object ( [2]#NEO ) close approaches may be found here: [3]https://t.co/ocjetQM9X4 [4]pic.twitter.com/KHEHjJrOeM — NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) [5]June 5, 2020
The object belongs to the Aten-class asteroids, a label given to rocks that have a semi-major axis of less than one astronomical unit - the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
The universe speaks: 'It's time to get off your rock!' [6]READ MORE
The group, consisting of over 1,125 known asteroids, are all near-Earth objects. 2002 NN4 has an orbital period of 300 days and rotational period 14.5 days. It’s expected to speed pass terra firma at just over 11 kilometers per second.
The hefty rock is expected to fly by Earth fairly frequently, and is expected to complete about [7]30 close approaches over the next 167 years.
The next visit will be at a similar date in about nine years’ time. In exactly fifty years, it’s expected to make its closest approach yet at a distance of 1,519,197 kilometers (~ 943,985 miles) so don’t let this weekend’s visit keep you up at night. ®
[1] https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/
[2] https://twitter.com/hashtag/NEO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://t.co/ocjetQM9X4
[4] https://t.co/KHEHjJrOeM
[5] https://twitter.com/AsteroidWatch/status/1268908251514580993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2013/02/16/space_asteroid_impact_inevitable/
[7] https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/163348-2002-nn4
Stretching up to 570 meters across, the space rock is bigger than the iconic skyscraper in the skyline of Manhattan, New York at 381 meters. Although the sheer size of the looming asteroid known as [1]2002 NN4 is pretty frightening, it’s expected to pass within 3.2 million miles of our planet or roughly 13 times the distance between the Earth and Moon.
The near-Earth object is larger than 90 per cent of most asteroids and has been on NASA’s watchlist for awhile. It was classified as a “potentially hazardous asteroid” when it was discovered in 2002.
Asteroid 2002 NN4 will safely pass by Earth on June 6 by over 13 lunar distances (LD) - 13 times the distance of the Moon from Earth, or approx. 3.2 million miles/5.1 million km. All known near-Earth object ( [2]#NEO ) close approaches may be found here: [3]https://t.co/ocjetQM9X4 [4]pic.twitter.com/KHEHjJrOeM — NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) [5]June 5, 2020
The object belongs to the Aten-class asteroids, a label given to rocks that have a semi-major axis of less than one astronomical unit - the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
The universe speaks: 'It's time to get off your rock!' [6]READ MORE
The group, consisting of over 1,125 known asteroids, are all near-Earth objects. 2002 NN4 has an orbital period of 300 days and rotational period 14.5 days. It’s expected to speed pass terra firma at just over 11 kilometers per second.
The hefty rock is expected to fly by Earth fairly frequently, and is expected to complete about [7]30 close approaches over the next 167 years.
The next visit will be at a similar date in about nine years’ time. In exactly fifty years, it’s expected to make its closest approach yet at a distance of 1,519,197 kilometers (~ 943,985 miles) so don’t let this weekend’s visit keep you up at night. ®
[1] https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/
[2] https://twitter.com/hashtag/NEO?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://t.co/ocjetQM9X4
[4] https://t.co/KHEHjJrOeM
[5] https://twitter.com/AsteroidWatch/status/1268908251514580993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2013/02/16/space_asteroid_impact_inevitable/
[7] https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/163348-2002-nn4
Ignore clickbait?
redpawn
Are you mad? Are you even El Reg?
We are not fine even if it will miss us. We will be lucky to survive until it hits us next time.
Re: Ignore clickbait?
jake
"We will be lucky to survive until it hits us next time."
What's with the defeatist attitude? I for one fully plan on being here.
May as well have a beer while we wait. It's the civilized thing to do.
Re: Ignore clickbait?
redpawn
Already had four at 9%. Not getting any better I fear.
Aten-class?
"a label given to rocks that have a semi-major axis of less than one astronomical unit" - Isn't that all of them? Though a rock larger than 1AU would also be larger than the Empire State Building, so maybe the distinction is important.
Yeah, I could just assume a missing "an orbit with", but where would be the fun in that?