Asteroid 2016 AJ193, approaching Earth in August, is huge and classified as a “potentially dangerous asteroid”. But there is no danger from him.
Frankfurt – Numerous asteroids move their orbits in the solar system – and chunks of various sizes approach the earth again and again. But panic is usually not the order of the day, the asteroids approach the earth and then disappear back out into the solar system. It will be exactly the same on August 21, when the asteroid named 2016 AJ193 approaches Earth.
The celestial body, which was discovered in 2016 by the automatic telescope system “Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System” (Pan-STARRS) in Hawaii, is estimated to be around 1.4 kilometers in size. The asteroid will come closest to Earth on August 21 at 5:10 p.m. (CEST). At a speed of around 94,000 kilometers per hour, it races past the earth at a distance of 3.4 million kilometers. Considered in earthly dimensions, the smallest distance between the earth and asteroid 2016 AJ193 is huge – but for a 1.4 kilometer asteroid the distance is small, in cosmic scales it is even a “grazing shot”.
Asteroid 2016 AJ193 is racing towards Earth – but there is no danger
Therefore the asteroid 2016 AJ193 is also classified as “potentially hazardous asteroid”. This category includes celestial bodies that meet the following criteria:
- Asteroid or comet
- Orbit brings the celestial body close to Earth (less than about 7.5 million kilometers away)
- Asteroid or comet is large enough to cause “significant regional damage” if it hits
Asteroid 2016 AJ193 orbits the sun every 5.9 years
The 2016 AJ193 orbit takes the asteroid around the Sun once every 5.9 years. It comes close to the earth and then disappears behind Jupiter before it approaches again. The asteroid’s orbit has been calculated for the next 65 years – no danger to Earth is in sight. In fact, the August 21, 2021 flyby is the asteroid’s closest approach in the next few decades.
The asteroid was observed by NASA’s “Neowise” space telescope, but many things are still unclear: How fast is it rotating, how exactly is its axis arranged? So far it is only clear that it is very dark, i.e. does not reflect light well. Researchers want to find out other properties of the asteroid when the celestial body flies past Earth.
Asteroid AJ193 can also be seen by telescope by amateur astronomers
Because the asteroid is so large, it can not only be observed by professional astronomers and their professional devices as it flies by, amateur astronomers can also see it as it flies by with telescopes from an opening of 200 millimeters (8 inches), it reports “EarthSky” portal. The asteroid, on the other hand, will not be visible to the naked eye. Professional astronomers plan to use the Goldstone radio telescope to observe asteroid AJ193 in southern California. Daily observations are scheduled from August 20th to August 24th. The researchers want to determine the shape, size and rotation of the asteroid.
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Asteroids can threaten Earth at any time – experts are working on a plan
While AJ193 poses no threat to Earth for the next few decades, an asteroid can appear at any time that becomes dangerous to Earth. For this reason, the “Center for near-earth object studies” (CNEOS) of the US space agencies observes numerous asteroids. To date, more than 26,000 asteroids with a size of 140 meters or more are known to the center, 889 of which are larger than one kilometer.
A NASA study recently showed how unprepared the earth is if a dangerous asteroid should one day approach. As a result, experts worked out a plan on how to react quickly to a threat from an asteroid. In addition, the first part of the double mission “DART” is to start this fall, in which a US space probe will ram a small asteroid, while a European mission will start later to investigate the effects. (Tanja Banner)
