According to NASA, an asteroid the size of a small airliner may pass near to Earth today. Learn the specifics right here. According to NASA, asteroids are typically found in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. A planet’s gravitational field, particularly one with the mass of Jupiter, can cause an asteroid to stray from its orbit and inflict it harm in all directions.
NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office monitors these Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) for potential Earth collisions. If they come within 8 million kilometers of Earth, they are classified as Potentially Hazardous Objects. Despite the fact that there are no asteroid approaches today, NASA has issued a warning that a giant asteroid the size of an airliner is rushing towards the Earth and may have a close encounter with the planet tomorrow.
2019 XQ1 Space Rock
NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office has red-flagged asteroid 2019 XQ1 due to its extremely close approach to Earth. Tomorrow, December 13, the asteroid will approach Earth as closely as it can while traveling at a speed of 5.5 million kilometers per hour.
It is already nearing the Earth at 35238 kilometers per hour, quicker than a hypersonic ballistic missile! According to the-sky.org, the asteroid 2019 XQ1 belongs to the Aten group of asteroids. On December 4, 2019, it was very recently discovered. This asteroid orbits the Sun once every 364 days, traveling 191 million kilometers at its greatest distance and 107 million kilometers at its closest approach.
How Does NASA Know When Asteroids Are On Their Way?
NASA monitors these asteroids by analyzing data from various telescopes and observations, including as Pan-STARRS, the Catalina Sky Survey, and the NEOWISE telescope. NASA is also planning to launch the NEO Surveyor mission in 2006, which will use a new orbiter to collect even more precise data.
NASA’s new impact monitoring system, which employs the Sentry-II algorithm, determines the danger of a Near-Earth Object impact. NASA can monitor the asteroid’s journey and potentially predict it years in advance using infrared data.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) caught the oldest galaxy ever viewed, completing another incredible feat. The most expensive telescope in the world has broken its previous record by discovering a galaxy that is 100 million years older than its previous one.
It should be noted, however, that the finding was made in an article published on arXiv. This fact could be challenged because it has not been peer reviewed. This is the James Webb Space Telescope’s most significant accomplishment to date. (AFP)
Using images from the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers discovered 55 distant galaxies, 44 of which are considered to be previously unknown.
