According to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the asteroid, called 7335 (1989 JA), will approach Earth next Friday, May 27. Although it is twice the size of the tallest building in the world or four times the size of the Empire State Building in New York, 1.8 km in diameter, there is no danger, since it will pass about 4 million kilometers away from us, about ten times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
there is nothing to fear
Due to the relatively close proximity to Earth, NASA has classified the asteroid as “potentially hazardous”, which means that it could cause enormous damage to our planet if its orbit were altered and it hit our planet. But it is highly unlikely that he will pose a threat to us.
The asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at 14:26 UTC on Friday, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, which routinely tracks space rocks.
Travel 20 times faster than a bullet
At that time, the asteroid will be 0.026 astronomical units from Earth and will be traveling at a staggering speed of about 76,000 km/h or 20 times faster than a bullet.
According to NASA, 7335 (1989 JA) is the largest asteroid that will approach Earth this year. The space rock won’t make another close flyby until June 23, 2055, when it will pass even farther than this Friday, at about 70 times the distance between Earth and the Moon.
“Experts estimate that the impact of an object the size of the one that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, approximately 17 meters in size, takes place once or twice a century,” says NASA.
Hunting NEOs
This Apollo-class asteroid is one of more than 29,000 near-Earth objects (NEOs) that NASA tracks each year. A NEO is any astronomical object that passes within about 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit. Every week NASA discovers about 30 new ‘near-Earth objects’ (NEOs).
Reference: NASA Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS)
