An asteroid the size of two football fields is approaching Earth
On August 4, 2022, it is reported that an asteroid ' 2022 OE2 ', which is the size of two American football fields, will approach the earth very closely. However, there is no possibility that the asteroid will affect the earth.
Asteroid 2022 OE2 close encounter coming Aug. 4 | Live Science
The asteroid `` 2022 OE2 '', which is expected to approach the earth rapidly, was observed on July 26, 2022, and its width is measured to be about 170 meters to 380 meters. Below is the launch prediction diagram of '2022 OE2' released by NASA. Looking at the figure, you can see that '2022 OE2' approaches 0.035au from Earth on August 4th. 1 au is about 150 million km, which is the distance from the earth to the sun, and 0.035 au is about 5.2 million km.
If '2022 OE2' collided with the earth, the energy for more than 1000 nuclear bombs would be released. However, since the distance of 0.035au is equivalent to ``13 times the distance between the earth and the moon'', there is no risk that ``2022 OE2'' will affect the earth.
In addition, NASA has observed tens of thousands of asteroids approaching the earth, such as ``2022 OE2'', which has become a hot topic this time, and in 2021, ``an asteroid that was thought to collide with the earth in 2068. As a result of re-analysis, the possibility of colliding with the earth was denied, and the risk of the asteroid colliding with the earth over the next 100 years has not been shown.
However, in 2013, a meteorite fell in Chelyabinsk, Russia, causing more than 1,000 injuries, but this meteorite had not been observed in advance. For this reason, it is quite possible that unobserved asteroids will continue to cause damage to the earth.
In addition, NASA is researching a method to change the orbit of an asteroid, and plans to conduct an experiment ' Double Asteroid Redirection Test ' in 2022 to change the course by colliding a rocket with the asteroid. Details of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test are explained in detail in the following article.
NASA will conduct a verification experiment in 2022 on how to protect the earth by colliding a spacecraft with an asteroid approaching the earth - GIGAZINE
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in Science, Posted by log1o_hf