Next week, an ASTEROID twice the size of Empire State Building will zip past Earth.
Experts have referred to the massive rock as 2022 RM4. “potentially hazardous”Because of the close encounter it is projected to make.
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Don’t be alarmed, it isn’t expected to hit Earth.
It’s actually estimated that scientists will find it 2,297.173km away.
It’s about six times as far as the distance between Earth and the Moon.
This is a pretty good space comparison, but not enough to be concerned about.
The new asteroid, estimated to be 740m in size (excluding the tip), could have been discovered.
This would place it just 828 meters above the Burj Khalifa, Dubai’s tallest building.
On November 1, the asteroid will greet us shortly after Halloween.
“No danger, but newly-discovered asteroid 2022 RM4 will pass less than 6 lunar distances on November 1,” said amateur astronomer Tony Dunn.
It could be as large as 740 metres, and will shine to mag 14.3, which is within the reach of backyard telescopes.
“This is very close for an asteroid this size.”
Nasa actually started preparing for potentially dangerous asteroids, in case one is to crash into Earth in the near future.
The space agency intentionally crashed a spacecraft into an 11million mile asteroid as part of a major testing exercise.
This was Nasa’s first ever planetary defense test. The agency will continue to use this information to determine if the Double Asteroid Redirection Test Mission (DART), actually altered the orbit of the asteroid.
Future Nasa missions may be similar in order to deflect asteroids that could threaten our planet.
Bill Nelson, Nasa administrator, praised the mission and called it a success. “giant step in planetary defense.”
DART was created to change the orbit of Dimorphos (a moonlet orbiting Didymos), its target.
This scheme is similar to the 1998 blockbuster flick. “Armageddon”In which Nasa fly a spacecraft to an asteroidal to stop it hitting Earth.
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