Asteroids may not be visible to most people, but they are constantly in the news for just one reason - their potential for wreaking havoc and a reputation as planet killers. And now, US space agency NASA has revealed there is one asteroid that is heading toward Earth at fiery speed and will get uncomfortably close today. While its size indicates it will not be a planet killer, but it still has the potential to destroy a certain region and if that area is a densely populated city, then the impact would be tragic.
Asteroids may not be visible to most people, but they are constantly in the news for just one reason - their potential for wreaking havoc and a reputation as planet killers. And now, US space agency NASA has revealed there is one asteroid that is heading toward Earth at fiery speed and will get uncomfortably close today. While its size indicates it will not be a planet killer, but it still has the potential to destroy a certain region and if that area is a densely populated city, then the impact would be tragic.
NASA has revealed that this 65-foot asteroid is heading toward Earth and it has been dubbed as Asteroid 2025 DV, indicating it has been labelled in the current year itself. It will get as close as just 2.9 million miles of Earth. It is a house-sized asteroid.
Notably, through its vast array of technology, NASA keeps a constant watch on all those asteroids that approach to within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers or 19.5 times the distance to the moon). NASA says that any object larger than about 150 meters that can approach the Earth to within this distance is termed a potentially hazardous object (PHA). However, the current asteroid we are referring to, has not been dubbed that. In fact, it has been classified as a near-Earth object (NEO).
According to NASA's Small-Body Database Lookup, this asteroid belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. According to the close approach data, the asteroid is travelling at a fiery speed of 23535 miles per hour.
The data made available through its various tech instruments on the ground and in the skies, indicate that it will pass by Earth at very close quarters. However, it will be back again after a long gap. Its return date is slated for 2044.
Up in space, NASA has deployed various spacecraft to study asteroids up close. These missions provide valuable data about the asteroid's composition, and structure. One was the Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres, and the OSIRIS-REx mission to Bennu.
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