[ad_1]
A massive asteroid is speeding towards Earth today! NASA has warned that it will pass at extremely close distance.
Did you know that most of the asteroids can be found in a specific region in space? Yes, you read that right! The region is called the asteroid belt – a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. These space rocks are usually made up of rocks, but they can also be made of metals such as gold, nickel and iron, or even clay and were responsible for triggering the extinction of dinosaurs when one crashed on Earth near the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico more than 65 million years ago. Now, NASA has warned that an asteroid is speeding towards Earth today.
Asteroid 2022 VD key details
NASA has warned that Asteroid 2022 VD is on its way towards Earth travelling at a staggering speed of 29916 kilometers per hour. It will make its closest approach to the Earth today, November 3, at a distance of just 698,000 kilometers. That is terrifyingly close. According to NASA, Asteroid 2022 VD is nearly the size of a car with a width of nearly 18 feet.
Although NASA scientists estimate that an asteroid would have to be about 96 km wide to completely and utterly wipe out life on Earth, smaller asteroids also have the potential to cause damage up to some extent. Unlike bigger asteroids which seldom stray towards Earth, smaller space rocks frequently fly past the planet at close distances.
Did you know?
In research published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, MIT scientists have developed a new method to study the internal structure of the space rock based on how the spin of the asteroid changes when it makes a close approach with a huge celestial object, like a planet. This will help in understanding the internal structure of the asteroid as well as the weight distribution, which could help in future DART Missions.
The team of MIT scientists look to apply this research on a Near-Earth Asteroid named Apophis. Although this asteroid is not expected to impact Earth anytime soon, a slight deviation in its trajectory could send it hurtling towards the planet.
[ad_2]
Source link