It ’s been awhile , but we ’ve got another asteroid coming our way that ’s go to swing past our satellite next calendar week . Hooray !
The asteroid called2016 NF23will vanish past our planet on Wednesday , August 29 at a length of about 5 million kilometers ( 3 million miles ) . That ’s kind of close , but still about 13 prison term further than the Moon . A band of more recent asteroids have come much closer .
Then there ’s the size of it , which has been compared to everything from the Great Pyramid of Giza to the London Eye or two Boeing 747s around the World Wide Web . For the rest of us , it ’s estimated to be anywhere from70 to 160 meters(230 to 525 feet ) across .
This asteroid takes about 240 twenty-four hours to revolve the Sun , make a closest approaching of about 40 percent as close as Earth , which is within the electron orbit of Mercury . That ’s quite a shortsighted orbital cavity , so the asteroid makes frequent flybys of Mercury , Venus , and Earth .
As always , an come near asteroid has garnered all form of alarming headlines and quotes . My ducky was credibly thecomparisonthat it ’s incite “ about 15 time faster than the 1,354 mph the retired Concorde travelled at . ” Which is just bright really .
Then there ’s also the issue of what NASA view as a “ potentially hazardous asteroid ” ( PHA ) . Basically , NASA deems anything that comes close than 7.5 million kilometers ( 4.6 million Swedish mile ) , and bigger than 140 meters ( 500 feet ) , as a PHA.No such objectis known to be on a hit path with Earth .
So label 2016 NF23 is really not a big deal . What ’s more , looking far into the hereafter with my magic optic ( and alsothis NASA page ) , its closest approach between now and 2199 come in September 2039 , when it ’ll pass along 2 million kilometers ( 1.3 million miles ) from our planet . Which is not very nigh at all .
On the patented Jonathan O’Callaghan Scale of how interesting this asteroid is , I ’d rate this one at a substantial “ grey-haired ” . For starters , it ’s not that big ( although big enough to wipe outa metropolis or two ) , it ’s not fly that airless , and its future sphere are pretty uninteresting .
Now , if you really want to be worried about an asteroid , consider99942 Apophis . On April 13 , 2029 , that will fly just 38,000 kilometers ( 24,000 miles ) from our planet , with a size of about 320 meter ( 1,050 feet ) . That ’s tantamount to 107 elephants sew together together , for computer address . And it could very well kill us all . Just kidding . perhaps .
