The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA has issued a warning for a massive and ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid named Asteroid 2020ND to pass earth at a distance of just 0.034 astronomical units(AU) on July 24.
An asteroid is a small rocky body orbiting the sun. Large members of these asteroids ranging immensely in size are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Asteroids are minor planets, especially of the inner solar system and the larger asteroids have also been called planetoids
The Asteroid named 2020ND is a gigantic rock measuring 170 meters that will come dangerously close to our planet, Earth.
The enormous asteroid traveling at a speed of staggering 13.5 kilometers per second – or 48000kms per hour will be 5,086,327 km away from earth.
The asteroid is believed to be even bigger than the famous London Eye which stands at 443 feet high.
Birmingham Live reported, the giant asteroid is one and a half times the size of the London Eye and it will make its closest approach to Earth on July 24.
Two other asteroids named by NASA, 2016 DY30, is headed in the direction of Earth at a speed of 54,000kms per hour & 2020ME3, is traveling at a 16,000kms per hour. Both are expected to whizz past our planet on Sunday.
2020ND has been classified as an Apollo asteroid since it crosses Earth’s path while traveling around the sun & has also been termed as “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids”
(PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the planet. Characteristically, all asteroids with a minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of 0.05 au or less are considered PHAs” noted NASA on its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) website.
Even though the asteroid is massive, it is not going to hit the planet or cause any serious harm, however, it will be flying very near to the earth and at tremendous speed.