A 110-feet wide asteroid will fly past the Earth tomorrow
The Earth just cannot seem to catch a break. US space agency NASA has announced that a humongous, 110-feet asteroid called 2022 QZ6, will fly past the pale blue dot on Wednesday i.e. August 31. Notably, this will be the third space rock to pass by our planet within a span of just three days. It will pose no immediate threat to us.
Why does this story matter?
There seems to be an asteroid rush this year, with more than 35 of them passing by us safely this month alone. While most of them don't pose any harm to us, deviations in their flight paths toward Earth can lead to catastrophic consequences. Researchers are hard at work finding a way to safely neutralize them prior to impact.
A look at asteroid 2022 QZ6
The asteroid 2022 QZ6 is 110-feet wide and is traveling toward Earth at a mind-boggling speed of 42,768km/h. The space rock will whiz past our planet at a distance of just 7.84 lakh kilometers, making it one of the closest asteroids to pass by us in 2022. It has been designated a 'Potentially Hazardous Object' by NASA because of its proximity to us.
What are asteroids?
Asteroids are rocky airless remnants from the formation of the solar system nearly 4.6 billion years ago. They are of all shapes and sizes. They orbit the Sun in two groups, one ahead of Jupiter and the other trailing behind. The largest asteroid, called Ceres, orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt. Ceres is spherical in shape, unlike most asteroids.
Asteroid QX1 will also go past us tomorrow
Several asteroids flew past the Earth in the last few days. They include the 2020 QW3, 2015 QH3, 2022 QQ4, 2022 QP3, 2022 QX4, and 2017 BU. The 140-feet wide asteroid QX1 will also travel past our planet on August 31.
