According to NASA calculations, a large asteroid will fly past Earth in a few days. No other has come this close to the planet in over a decade.
Washington DC – The Netflix film ‘Don’t Look Up’ exaggerates how humanity reacts when a dangerous meteorite is headed for Earth – namely not at all. Director Roland Emmerich, who was born in Stuttgart*, believes that disaster films can open people’s eyes (BW24* reported). But even in reality, an asteroid will soon approach our planet dangerously.
On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, the asteroid, labeled “(455176) 1999 VF22,” will fly by Earth at 2:54 a.m. North American Time (8:54 a.m. Central European Time). No rock body has come this close to the planet for decades – especially none of this size. According to NASA, this is difficult to determine because of the high proportion of reflected light that emanates from the rock. The rough estimate of the circumference is between 190 and 430 meters. This is remarkable, but still significantly smaller than another mega-comet heading towards our solar system*.
Asteroid is classified as “Potentially Dangerous”.
Because of the close proximity of the passage of the earth, the asteroid is classified by NASA as “potentially dangerous”. However, it is considered certain that it will not hit the earth, but will remain as it flies by. According to calculations, it will come no closer to Earth than 5.36 million kilometers – that would be 14 times the distance between Earth and the moon.
The asteroid can be observed from Earth
Space fans can watch the spectacle live on Tuesday. However, if you want to watch the asteroid fly past Earth, you need a good telescope. Otherwise, you can also watch it via live stream on the YouTube channel “The Virtual Telescope Project”. This starts on February 21 at 1 a.m. German time.
Researchers recently made another exciting discovery on the far side of the moon. Impressive recordings showed a “mysterious hut”* there. *BW24 is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
