A “possibly unsafe” space rock estimated in excess of a mile long will zoom past Earth this week, the biggest space rock expected to get moderately near our planet in 2022.
The space rock, named 1989 JA, is assessed to be 1.1 miles long, or 5,905 feet, as per NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. For reference, the space rock is two times the size of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest structure on the planet.
NASA says there are almost 29,000 close to Earth space rocks in space, but 1989 JA is one of 878 that are something like 3,280 feet wide.
“To put that into perspective, that is 17 times the speed of a bullet through air. At this speed, the asteroid could complete a 45-minute orbit around the Earth.”
Marchis
A space rock that is enormous could cause a fiasco on Earth, yet there is a compelling reason to stress. 1989 JA will be 2.5 million miles away when it makes its closest approach to Earth on Friday, which is multiple times the distance to the moon and the closest it has ever been to Earth.
According to the boss logical official of the telescope organization Unistellar and senior planetary cosmologist at the SETI Institute, the space rock is traveling at around 30,000 mph.
“To give some unique circumstances, that is multiple times the speed of a shot through the air. At this speed, the space rock could go all over the world quickly, “Marchis said.
The space rock was found in 1989 by cosmologist Eleanor Helin at the Palomar Observatory in Southern California. The space rock was named “possibly dangerous” on the grounds that it is an Apollo space rock, meaning it crosses Earth’s circle.
This week will mark the closest a space rock will come to Earth in the following 172 years, NASA projects.
Although 1989 JA won’t strike Earth, NASA is planning for the likelihood that a horrendous estimated space rock is on track to stir things up around town. The office sent off the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, on Nov. 25, determined to test to check whether thumping a space rock off its path is conceivable.
The Virtual Telescope Project will livestream the space rock going by Earth on Thursday and Friday in association with Telescope Live. The livestream will air from Chile on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST and from Argentina on Friday at 9 a.m. EST.
