NASA Warning: 850 Foot Asteroid Approaches Earth This Week
According to NASA’s calculations, the asteroid called Asteroid 2018 EB will pass by our planet on 7 October at about 1:24 am (UT), at 15.4 Lunar Distances (LD) from Earth. This means that the asteroid will pass by our planet at a distance of almost 3.67 million miles (5.9 million km).
Even though it seems very far, NASA has classified this asteroid as being a Near-Earth Object (NEOs) and also a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA). Near-Earth Objects are all the comets and asteroids that could come into Earth’s orbit (even as far as 28 million miles). All these giant space rocks are tracked by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from Pasadena, California.
According to NASA, their “Near-Earth Object Observations Program is responsible for finding, tracking, and characterising near-Earth objects – asteroids and comets whose orbits periodically bring them within approximately 1.3 Astronomical Units of the Sun.”
The space agency also added that it includes all objects that can come “within 0.3 AU – about 30 million miles, or 50 million kilometers – of Earth’s orbit.”
The NEO Program is part of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
Asteroid EB Trajectory and Details
Asteroid EB is somewhere between 393.7 ft and 853 ft (120 m and 260 m) large. If it were to impact Earth, it would cause a cataclysm. The space rock has a similar path as the Asteroid 1862 Apollo, so it is part of Apollo-typed asteroids. The space rock was first observed on 1 March this year and again spotted by NASA on 29 September.
According to NASA’s estimations, the space rock orbits the sun for more than 374.6 days, and the orbital characteristics show that it has been getting closer to our planet since March 25, 1904.
This Sunday, the Asteroid EB will fly by Earth at more than 33,867 mph/s (15.14 km/s). The asteroid approached our planet on 4 April this year, and it will again pass by next year on 7 April.
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.
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