This Asteroid Is Heading For Earth, Says NASA! How close will it get to the planet?
Asteroids have hit Earth more than once in the last billion years. Some of them changed the course of history. They could well be the reason for the ascension of humanity. But how do you identify asteroid impact craters that struck Earth thousands of years ago? In a stunning development, a team of international researchers identified the past asteroid impact sites using CSI crime-solving techniques. But before that, you should find out about this asteroid heading straight for Earth as warned by NASA.
Important details about the asteroid 2022 YG5
The asteroid named Asteroid 2022 YG5 will fly by Earth today, December 30th. This Space rock will be the closest approach to the planet at a distance of just 3.1 million kilometers. The 51-foot-wide asteroid will pass Earth at a staggering 51,246 kilometers per hour.
More details
Corresponding NASAAsteroid 2022 YG5 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids, a group of near-Earth asteroids named for the giant 1862 Apollo asteroid discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. It was only discovered a few days ago, on December 24th, and takes 829 days to orbit the sun. During this journey, its maximum distance from the Sun is 398 million kilometers and its closest distance is 119 million kilometers.
Although no potential damage is expected from this asteroid, it has still been classified as a “potentially dangerous object” due to the close proximity with which it will fly by Earth. NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office classifies near-Earth objects (NEOs) as potentially dangerous if they come within 8 million kilometers of Earth.
Asteroid study using CSI techniques
According to the research, only 30 percent of the Holocene asteroid impact craters that formed over the past 11,650 years have been identified. The researchers used charcoal samples from crater sites to identify the asteroid impacts. A recent article published in the Geological Society of America’s journal Geology explains that the bodies of organisms that died as a result of the asteroid impact can be analyzed to find out the extent of damage caused by the asteroid impact.
By studying how an organism died, researchers can find out the conditions under which they were killed, which actually reflect the characteristics of an asteroid.
