How close is the nearest asteroid?
about 16,300 miles
But at its closest, at about 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT), the asteroid was about 16,300 miles (26,200 kilometers) away from Earth — less than one-tenth the distance between the Earth and the moon, and quite close as far as asteroid approaches go.
How many asteroids will hit Earth?
Asteroids with a 1 km (0.62 mi) diameter strike Earth every 500,000 years on average. Large collisions – with 5 km (3 mi) objects – happen approximately once every twenty million years.
What would happen if a meteor hit the ocean?
When an asteroid hits the ocean, it’s more likely to produce storm-surge-sized waves than giant walls of watery death. To understand the ensuing tsunamis from impacts, researchers focused on the mid-range objects, asteroids between about 100 to 1000 meters across.
Is there an object coming close to Earth?
Chodas found that the object had already passed relatively close to Earth several times over the past decades, including one moment that indicated it could have actually launched from Earth, according to NASA.
What makes an asteroid a near Earth object?
A Near-Earth Object (NEO) is generally defined as an asteroid or comet that approaches our planet less than 1.3 times the distance from Earth to the Sun (the Earth-Sun distance is about 93 million miles). Most NEOs pose no peril at all. It’s the small percentage of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids that draws extra scrutiny.
What kind of object is hurtling towards Earth?
NASA says mysterious object hurtling towards Earth could be an asteroid or a comet. The American space agency says that one object is a massive comet, but has so far been unable to identify the other.
When is 2020 so going to pass Earth?
A mysterious object will fly past the Earth tomorrow and scientists still aren’t quite sure what it is. The object, dubbed 2020 SO by astronomers, will come within “just” 31,605 miles of our planet at 3:50 a.m. ET on December 1, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS.)
