Automobile-size asteroid came upon 2 days in the past flies 30 instances nearer to Earth than the moon
An asteroid came upon Tuesday (April 9) made an especially akin, however innocuous, move by way of planet Earth these days (April 11).
Asteroid 2024 GJ2 is kind of the dimensions of a automotive and, since its discovery this moment, astronomers calculated that the area rock would graze by way of Earth at a trifling 12-thousand-mile (19.3-thousand-kilometer) distance — that’s simply 3 % the gap between the Earth and the moon. 2024 GJ2 measures between 2.5 and 5 meters (8.2 and 16 toes), according to the European Space Agency (ESA). This implies it’s an asteroid with a weight-class that might have burned up in Earth’s surrounding, if its orbit took place to intersect ours extra immediately.
Astronomers imagine the asteroid’s closest approach distance to Earth took place at 2:28:42 p.m. EDT (18:28:42 GMT) on Thursday, at a distance of seven,641 miles (12,298 kilometers).
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The nearest closest flyby of 2024 GJ2 gained’t happen till 2093, according to ESA’s near-Earth items coordination middle. When that occurs, the asteroid gained’t move just about as akin because it did these days. GJ2’s 2093 manner is estimated to fly as akin as 127,970 miles (205,947 kilometers) to us — 10 instances additional than these days’s flyby, and simply over part the gap between Earth and the moon.
NASA has cataloged just about 35,000 near-Earth asteroids to age, even though only a few of the ones pose any warning to the planet.
Initially posted on Space.com.
