A Big Asteroid Just Passed the Earth: Is It Dangerous?

There’s an asteroid of the size of a car that has been discovered over the weekend. It made a close flyby of Earth.

The asteroid is called 2020 OY4, and it was first found on Sunday – the 26th of July, and it had made its closest approach when it passed our planet at a speed of about 27,700 mph (that’s 44,600 km/h). The asteroid is under 10 feet (that’s 3 meters) wide, and it does not represent a danger for our planet. However, it did approach the flight paths of the geosynchronous satellites.

According to ESA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Coordination Center and to NASA, the outreach tool can vary when it comes to the exact distance of the asteroid at its closest approach.

NASA has listed the closest distance at about 25,800 miles (that’s 41,400 km). That’s outside the ring of geosynchronous satellites 22,236 miles (that’s 35,786 km) above the equator of Earth. And, according to ESA, the rage was of about 21,900 miles (that’s 35,170 km). But this was no risk for our planet.

There’s an image of it on the internet, and its description is “The telescope tracked the fast apparent motion of the asteroid; this is why stars show as long trails, while the asteroid looks like a bright and sharp dot of light in the center of the image, marked by an arrow.

It’s good to keep in mind that asteroids that have the size of 2020 OY4 fly by our planet several times a month. Back in 2019, an asteroid that was a bit larger than 2020 OY4 actually hit our planet, however, it did break up in the atmosphere, with no damages, according to astronomers.

 

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