FunAn asteroid the size of a skyscraper will pass...

An asteroid the size of a skyscraper will pass this weekend close to Earth

Every so often an asteroid passes near the Earth, but few are as big as the protagonist of this weekend, baptized with the name of “Apollo 2021 PT”. It is a space body that, according to scientists, measures no more and no less than between 175 and 240 meters, so that it is as big as a skyscraper. In addition, it is considered a “potentially dangerous asteroid” , so they are monitoring its activity in real time since this Sunday it will be very close to our planet.

There are three types of asteroids that are close to Earth: Amor, Aten and Apollo . They differ between them by the tibo of orbits. The “Apollo 2021 PT” was discovered for the first time on March 8, 2021.

The “Apollo 2021 PT” travels at a speed of 7,000 kilometers per second , and is estimated to pass 4,908,499 kilometers from Earth. This is certainly a very long distance, but any asteroid that approaches less than 7,500,000 kilometers from Earth is considered “potentially dangerous.”

NASA classification

To understand it better, it should be noted that the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) relies on two factors to classify an astronomical object as “potentially dangerous”.

First, the absolute magnitude . If it is less than or equal to 22, it is considered “potentially dangerous”. In the case of “Apollo 2021 PT”, its absolute magnitude is 21.94 M.

And, secondly, the minimum distance of intersection between the orbit of the object and that of the Earth , which is known as MOID. When the distance is less than 0.05 astronomical units, which is equivalent to 7,479,894 kilometers, it is considered “potentially dangerous”.

Now, is there any kind of risk that this asteroid will hit Earth ? The truth is that no. NASA has ruled out the slightest possibility of this happening since it will pass almost five million kilometers from our planet.

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