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Washington: Using its advanced ground and space-based telescopes such as the NEOWISE telescope, Pans-STARRS1, and Catalina Sky Survey, NASA has revealed that two asteroids will be passing Earth at close distances today.
Asteroid 2003 BM4:
The asteroid, given the designation of Asteroid 2003 BM4 by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), is travelling towards Earth in its orbit at a breakneck speed of 39,102 kilometres per hour, which is much faster than an Intercontinental Ballistic Missle (ICBM)!
NASA expects this space rock to fly past Earth at a close margin of approximately 3.3 million kilometres today.
While this asteroid will pass by closely, it isn’t big enough to cause panic or any potential damage. As per NASA, the asteroid is approximately 130 feet wide, making it almost as big as an aircraft! However, if it crashes on Earth, it could still cause damage to a certain degree. In 2013, a smaller 59-foot asteroid exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia, damaging 7000 buildings and injuring over 1000 people injured.
NASA has also revealed that Asteroid 2003 BM4 has passed Earth before and this is not its first approach. It first passed Earth on February 5, 1903, at a distance of about 12 million kilometres. After today, it will come close to the planet again on January 13, 2028, at a distance of nearly 55 million kilometres.
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