Potentially hazardous asteroid will fly past close to Earth tomorrow
Asteroids may one day collide with the Earth and turn it into a mess. Just not tomorrow. US space agency NASA has announced that a 92-feet asteroid called 2020 QW3 will just pass by Earth on August 22 at 6.41 am. This risky rock from outer space poses no immediate threat but scientists are looking out for any last-minute variation in its flight path.
Why does this story matter?
The 2020 QW3 is humongous and is traveling at blazing fast speed. If its flight path is altered in any way toward Earth, it may cause massive damage. Thankfully, that does not seem to be the case. Asteroids pose huge risks to us and research is underway to find steps to safely neutralize them before impact.
A look at asteroid 2020 QW3
The 2020 QW3 belongs to the Amor group of asteroids. It is 321 million kilometers away from Sun and 8.96 million kilometers away from Earth. It is three times the size of an aircraft and has an orbital period of 732 days. The asteroid is traveling at a speed of 64,800km/h and will fly past the Earth at a distance of 3.3 million kilometers.
The 2015 QH3 will also pass by us on Monday
Four asteroids flew past the Earth last week and more are on the way. A space rock called 2015 QH3 will also pass by us on Monday. The 44-feet asteroid will fly past us by a distance of 1.3 million kilometers.
The 92-feet asteroid was discovered by NASA's Lucy mission
The 2020 QW3 asteroid was detected by NASA's Lucy mission. Launched in October 2021, it is named after the skeleton of an early hominin (pre-human ancestor) found in Ethiopia in 1974. During its 12-year mission, Lucy will study Trojan asteroids. Trojans are small remnants of our early solar system. They orbit the Sun in two groups, one ahead of Jupiter and other trailing behind.
