September 19, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Stadium-sized asteroid approaches Earth at 40,000 kilometers per hour


NASA has issued a warning about a stadium-sized asteroid that will approach Earth on Tuesday (September 17).

Asteroid 2024 ON is 290 meters long and will pass within 1 million kilometers of Earththe US space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reports. According to the space agency, the asteroid last flew past Earth in 2013 and will approach it again in 2035.

The object was first spotted by NASA's Near-Earth Object (NEO) program.which uses observatories around the world to detect undiscovered objects near Earth. It is monitored by the Virtual Telescope project, which recorded a “potentially dangerous” an asteroid moving at about 40,000 kilometers per hour.

Having reached a minimum distance of 2.6 times the average distance to the Moon, 2024 ON does not pose a danger to Earth in its current orbit, but even a small deviation could have significant consequences.

Due to its enormous size, the asteroid is 99% larger than any other near-Earth objectbut it will not pass close enough to be seen without a telescope.



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