Asteroid shock: A 30,000MPH space rock will skim the planet TONIGHT - Will it hit?
AN ASTEROID hurtling through space faster than 30,000mph will approach the planet later tonight, NASA’s asteroid trackers have confirmed.
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The asteroid dubbed 2019 UD7 is locked in on an ‘Earth close approach” trajectory. NASA predicts the asteroid will zip past our home planet around 10.28pm GMT (6.28pm EDT). When this happens, the asteroid will reach speeds of around 30,109mph (48,456kph).
What do we know about Asteroid 2019 UD7?
Astronomers have classified the speedy asteroid a Near-Earth Object or NEO.
NEOs are all comets and asteroids that orbit the Sun from a distance of 1.3 astronomical units.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), NEOs warrant interest because they “could potentially hit our planet”.
Depending on their size, speed and composition, these impact could cause “considerable damage”.
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ESA said: “While the chance of a large object hitting Earth is very small, it would produce a great deal of destruction.”
Asteroid 2019 UD7 was first observed this year on October 25.
NASA’s asteroid tracking systems have since used 28 observations to calculate the space rock’s size, speed and trajectory.
The agency estimates UD7 measures somewhere in the range of 20.9ft to 45.9ft (6.4m to 14m) in diameter.
At the lower end of NASA’s estimate, the asteroid is comparable in height to an adult giraffe.
It would produce a great deal of destruction
At the upper end of NASA’s estimate, the asteroid is almost as long as a bowling lane.
Thankfully, an object this small would likely burn up in the atmosphere before it reached the ground.
NASA further estimates the asteroids is travelling at a speed of about 13.46km per second or 30,109mph (48,456kph).
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Will Asteroid 2019 UD7 hit the plane tonight?
The good news is NASA does not expect UD7 to come close enough to Earth to pose any threat.
At its closest, the asteroid will approach Earth from a distance of 0.00484 astronomical units (au).
A single astronomical unit is the distance between our planet and the Sun – about 93 million miles (149.6 million km).
Asteroid UD7 will drastically cut this down tonight to just 449,906 miles (724,053km) from Earth.
In other words, the asteroid will appear tonight almost twice as far as the Moon is.
NASA said: “As they orbit the Sun, Near-Earth Objects can occasionally approach close to Earth.
“Note that a ‘close’ passage astronomically can be very far away in human terms: millions or even tens of millions of kilometres.”
After tonight’s close approach, the asteroid will visit Earth again on October 17, 2063.
Then the asteroid will approach the Red Planet Mars on December 25, 2078.