Catch ultimate glimpse: 104-m-wide asteroid set to pass near Earth on January 11
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An around 104-metre-wide asteroid is set to pass near Earth on January 11. It will be within 3.48 million miles of Earth and has been labelled as a “potentially hazardous object”. The rock, which has been named Asteroid 2013 YD48 by NASA, seems to be bigger than the iconic Big Ben
An around 104-metre-wide asteroid is set to pass near Earth on January 11, a report said.
The asteroid, which will be within 3.48 million miles of Earth, has been labelled as a “potentially hazardous object”, the Mirror reported.
The rock, which has been named Asteroid 2013 YD48 by NASA, seems to be bigger than the iconic Big Ben.
Although it will miss Earth by a long distance, it’s actually not that much in terms of space.
NASA seems to classify any object that passes within 120 million miles of Earth as a Near-Earth Object (NEO).
Even tiny changes in the trajectories due to any obstruction can prove fatal for Earth.
Numerous scientists spend hours every day to track thousands of such rocks to know more about universe and take timely action if Earth is in danger.
This is not the only asteroid to come closer to Earth in coming weeks.
A 7-m-wide asteroid, which has been named 2014 YE15, will pass by on January 6. It will be 4.6 million miles from Earth.
And on January 7, an asteroid named 2020 AP1, which is only 4-m-wide, will pass near Earth by being around 1.08 million miles from it.
(With inputs from agencies)