Asteroid longer than a football field is about to fly past Earth
Two asteroids will fly past Earth five hours apart, the largest estimated to be 120 meters in diameter, longer than a football field.
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Asteroid 2009 WB105 is about 120 meters long. Photo:Pixabay. |
A giant asteroid called 2009 WB105 will approach Earth at 7:14 p.m. today, Vietnam time. This is the first time in three years that the asteroid has passed Earth. According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, the asteroid is 53 - 120 meters in diameter,Daily Starreport
WB105 will be taller than Big Ben in the UK and the Statue of Liberty in the US. In other words, the asteroid is the size of 13 buses lined up. WB105 will fly by Earth at a distance of 5.8 million kilometers. In astronomical terms, this is very close and the asteroid WB105 is classified as a Near Earth Object (NEO).
"As they orbit the Sun, NEOs can sometimes come very close to Earth. It's important to note that the astronomical definition of close is very different from what humans imagine, possibly millions or even tens of millions of kilometers," NASA explained.
According to NASA calculations, the asteroid will travel through space at a speed of 67,967 km/h. Asteroid WB105 will approach Earth in exactly three years, on November 25, 2021. After WB105, a smaller asteroid will approach Earth at 12:24 on November 26 at a distance of 8 times the distance from Earth to the Moon, equivalent to nearly 3.2 million km. However, NASA said Earth is still safe because the risk of collision is extremely small.
