Earth to closely encounter a 1.8 km wide asteroid in May

A 1.8-kilometer-wide potentially dangerous asteroid is set to come close to Earth as it passes in its orbit around the Sun. The close encounter with Earth is expected to happen at the end of this month as the asteroid streaks' past at a staggering speed of 47,196 kilometers per hour. 

 

Although the asteroid is believed to swoop past Earth without any harm, Nasa has still classified the alien object as potentially hazardous. The object named 1989 JA can be seen using a binocular as it comes close to the planet's orbit. It was discovered in 1989 at the Palomar Observatory. 

 

The asteroid will come as close as 40,24,182 kilometers to the planet, which is dangerously close for an object's flyby. The last time it came this close to Earth was in 1996 when the asteroid swept past the planet from a distance of just over four million kilometers. 

 

According to the Nasa Joint Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), an asteroid is classified as a near-Earth object when its distance from our planet is less than 1.3 times the distance from Earth to the Sun (the Earth-Sun distance is about 93 million miles). 

 

The last such big asteroid to come close to Earth was 13,8971 (2001 CB21), which was 1.3 kilometers wide and came as close to Earth as 49,11,298 kilometers on March 4. Following its close flyby, the object is on its way to the Sun, completing its orbit in just under 400 days. 

(With India Today inputs)

Also Read: Buying gold this Akshaya Tritiya on May 3? Here’s all you need to know

Also Read: HDFC Q4 results: Net profit rises 16% to Rs 3,700 cr, final dividend declared