50-Foot Asteroid Travelling At 17864 MPH Coming Towards Earth, Says NASA
NASA has raised an alert about a 50-foot asteroid today, which is rushing toward Earth at break-neck speed and released its details.
NASA has raised an alert about a 50-foot asteroid today, which is rushing toward Earth at break-neck speed and released its details. Notably, the US space agency keeps track of all space objects like asteroids and comets that come very close to Earth and are deemed to pose a threat. Depending on how close an asteroid comes, it is dubbed as a near-Earth object, or a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA). From the terrifying speed they travel at and the immense mass they are carrying, these space rocks are like missiles unleashed at the planets that make up solar system. And they do impact planets with tragic consequences. One such asteroid wiped out dinosaurs from the face of the Earth some 65-66 million years ago.
This 50-foot asteroid has been dubbed as a NEO, because of its trajectory vis a vis Earth. NASA says that this asteroid today is going to make its closest Earth approach at just 1,700,000 miles.
NASA has named it as Asteroid 2025 EH1 and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Small-Body Database has classified it as belonging to the Apollo group of asteroids and that it falls under the NEO grouping.
Asteroid 2025 EH1 is travelling at a speed of 17864 miles per hour.
NASA has indicated it will be moving away from earth at this distance. However, humanity has not seen the last of this asteroid as it will be coming back in February, 2025.
How asteroids are tracked
One way asteroids are tracked is through repeated imaging. Ground-based telescopes employ a technique of capturing multiple images of the same sky region over time. It is easier to identify objects, like asteroids, that exhibit movement against the relative static backdrop of stars in this way. These telescopes, combined with data analysis and modeling, help NASA track asteroids. In turn this throws up their potential orbits, which allows analysis of risks they pose to Earth.
NASA has deployed a lot of technology on the ground and in the skies to keep a constant watch to keep humanity safe and ensure that what happened to the dinosaurs, does not happen now.
