Nasa tracking huge 1,500-foot asteroid set to skim past Earth at 28,000mph TODAY
NASA has it’s eye on a huge asteroid that’s heading for Earth’s orbit later today.
The space agency’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies has observed the giant space rock approaching Earth at speeds of up to 28,500mph.
There’s no need to panic though as the asteroid is expected to shoot straight past us.
Dubbed 438908 (2009 XO), Nasa has been keeping an eye on the space rock since it was first spotted in 2009.
It’s estimated to measure between 210m to 470m, which means it could be up to 1,476ft across.
This would make it bigger than the Empire State Building.
Space experts think 438908 (2009 XO) will shoot safely past us on May 7 at 17:18 BST or 12:18 EST.
Cautious space agencies have labelled the asteroid “potentially hazardous” because it will come relatively ‘close’ to Earth.
Any fast moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be “potentially hazardous” and making a “close approach”.
The space rock should pass us at around 2.1million miles away.
This is still classified as a “near miss” in terms of space.
Asteroid 438908 (2009 XO) will intersect with Earth’s orbit .
This means it’s classed in the Apollo asteroid category with other Earth-crossing space rocks.
What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
Here's what you need to know, according to Nasa…
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it’ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn’t vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vapourising)
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In other news, the last Supermoon of 2020 peaked this morning.
A ‘king planet’ triple the size of Jupiter has been found lurking in nearby solar system.
And, the ‘world’s clearest picture of the Moon’s craters‘ has been revealed.
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