On December 11, a big asteroid – about 330 meters in diameter – will fly safely previous our planet. Nicknamed “4660 Nereus”, the near-Earth asteroid is a frequent customer to near-Earth area. The final time it appeared earlier than us was on March 22, 2011, and the subsequent go to is predicted on March 2, 2031.
Despite sensational information headlines, the 4660 Nereus will skim a protected distance of over 3 million kilometres. This is about ten instances the gap between the Earth and the Moon.
Why is it referred to as the Apollo asteroid?
Near-Earth asteroids (these whose orbits are near Earth) are labeled as:
*Atiras: NEA whose orbits are solely inside Earth’s orbit
*Attens: Earth-crossing NEA with smaller axes than Earth
* Apollos: NEAs traversing the Earth with axes bigger than Earth
*AMORS: Near-Earth NEAs which have orbits outdoors Earth however have internal Mars orbits’
Types of Near-Earth Objects (NASA)
4660 Nereus will cross our Earth’s orbit however at a protected distance.
Then why is it a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA)?
Any near-Earth asteroid that approaches Earth at a distance of lower than 0.05 astronomical items or 7.5 million km is known as a doubtlessly hazardous asteroid.
The International Astronomical Union lists greater than 1,500 doubtlessly hazardous asteroids.
shut view
On December 11, 5 different near-Earth objects are mentioned to make a detailed method. According to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, NEOs named 2021 WV1, 2021 WJ3, 2021 XD2, 2021 XG, 2021 WV1 will fly by our planet. The 2021 XG is an Aten, whereas the opposite 4 are Apollos.
right this moment’s feast
On December 6, six near-Earth objects – 2021 VX7, 2021 WE1, 2021 WM2, 2021 XT1, 2021 WL2, 2021 XE – will method.
Last month, NASA launched the world’s first planetary protection system to deflect an asteroid. The mission, named DART, will goal a small moon referred to as Dimorphos and hit it at a pace of about 6.6 kilometers per second or 24,000 kilometers per hour. The collision is predicted between September 26 and October 1 subsequent yr.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
