Asteroid 2022 SR1 will come close to Earth today. It travels at a speed of 6 km per second.
A huge space rock the size of a plane called Asteroid 2022 SR1 is on its way to Earth and will get very close today, September 29, 2022. The space rock was located about 4.64 million kilometers, which is 0.02 astronomical units away from Earth. And that’s why it’s close enough for astronomers to study the asteroid using radar. According to data from the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the asteroid’s flight is estimated to be just 2,880,000 miles from Earth. It travels at 6 kilometers per second. This asteroid is 77 feet tall.
Everything you need to know about Asteroid 2022 SR1
As reported by www.sky.org, NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office keeps a track of all the space rocks going to Earth. The portal reported: “The asteroid 2022 SR1 is currently located in the southeast in the constellation Sculptor at an altitude of 13° above the horizon. It will sink to the horizon tomorrow at 05:26.”
It was first discovered on September 17, 2022. It belongs to the Amor group and makes one orbit around the sun in 834 days.
This is not the only asteroid that will come close to Earth. Asteroid 2022 SG11 and SH12 would also pass close to Earth today. A few more space rocks will also be visiting us in the coming days. NASA continues to share the information on its official portal. However, none of these seem to pose a threat to our planet.
Meanwhile, NASA has made history by successfully diverting the asteroid from its set path using kinetic impact. NASA’s DART mission is a huge success as it crashed into the target asteroid Dimorphous. This will help NASA in the future to ward off potentially dangerous asteroids on their way to Earth. However, it is still unknown whether the asteroid actually deflected. That will be announced in the coming weeks after the data filters.
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