As per to the NASA’s latest report, a massive asteroid with a diameter of up to 650 metres is set to pass Earth next month. Also, earlier this month, Asteroid 2006 QQ23 whizzed past Earth without any incident and now this giant rock, named 2000 QW7 will passes by our planet on September 14.
Massive asteroid set to pass by Earth next month
As per to the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, 2000 QW7 will come within 5.3 million kilometres to Earth when it passes by the planet.
Due to the asteroid coming within 0.05 astronomical units of our planet, it is called a Near Earth Object (NEO). As Live Science notes, that distance is equal to approx. 14 times the distance between the Earth as well as the moon.
This giant space rock is projected to measure 650 metres in diameter and will be travelling at a speed of 14,361mph (23,112kmph), the reports states.
However, it might seems to be like a lot, but in space terms it is still considered a relatively close call.
According to CNEOS, the asteroid is going to be travelling at 23,100 km/h and will next pass by the blue planet in the year 2038.
Even though the Earth can breathe a sigh of relief this time around, but the scientists on the other hand are already beginning to plan for the arrival of an additional monster rock.
That another giant asteroid which has been in focus over the last few weeks is 99942 Apophis, that has been named after the Egyptian God of chaos and darkness, and it was originally assumed to be crashing into Earth in the year 2029, on the other hand, further detailed observations have removed that assumption.
It is expected that the rock will come so close to the earth, in fact, that it is going to be closer than weather satellites.
According to NASA JPL data, Apophis is going to be next close to Earth in the coming next year in January and October. It is also going to be passed by our planet in the years 2021, 2024, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2036, 2037, 2058, 2066, 2072, 2073, 2094, 2101, 2102, 2123, 2124, 2130, and 2131. It is assumed that the asteroid will be within just 19,000 miles (30,577km) of the surface of Earth in the year 2029.
Last week, Elon Musk, who is the billionaire founder of Space X, drew the attention to the asteroid when he said that though he wasn’t fearful of this rock, it did focus just how vulnerable our planet is.
He tweeted, “Great name! Wouldn’t worry about this particular one, but a big rock will hit Earth eventually and we currently have no defence.”
Scientists had also said that although they weren’t concerned that the asteroid would hit us, but still it had a “small chance of impacting Earth”.
Marina Brozović, who is a radar scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said, “The Apophis close approach in 2029 will be an incredible opportunity for science,”
