‘POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS’ ASTEROID AS BIG AS THE EIFFEL TOWER TO PASS BY EARTH IN DECEMBER

Tue 09 November 2021:

On December 11, an asteroid will pass close to Earth, but it will not pose a threat to the globe.

The 330-meter-long rock will pass by the planet at a speed of 6.578 km/s at a distance of 3.9 million kilometers, Aaccording to NASA’s asteroid tracker,

Despite being designated as “Potentially Hazardous,” the asteroid’s path will take it far from Earth and is unlikely to pose any threat to the planet.

According to NASA, the asteroid 4660 Nereus will pass near to Earth on December 11.

The boulder, roughly the size of the Eiffel Tower, will provide an opportunity for scientists to investigate several possibilities, including ways to protect our planet from potentially deadly impacts from near-Earth asteroids.

The asteroid orbits the sun every 664 days, but it is not expected to pass close to Earth again until March 2, 2031, and then again in November 2050.

It will make its closest approach in 40 years, in February 2060.

NASA classifies any asteroid 140 meters or larger approaching the earth as Potentially Hazardous, meaning it has the potential to cause catastrophic damage to the Earth.

The most significant asteroid to strike the Earth was in 2013. That asteroid fragmented only 20 kilometers above the ground in Russia, scattering a vast number of meteorites across the city of Chelyabinsk.

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