Another celestial body heading towards Earth. This time it is Asteroid 2003 SD220. Its scale may be frightening, but is it threatening our planet?
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Asteroid 2003 SD220
Asteroid 2003 SD220 is an extremely rectangular space rock that is three times the height of the Empire State Building and almost the height of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (the tallest building in the world). The celestial body is approaching the earth. December 17 will be the closest to our planetWhen it approaches Earth for a distance of 4.8 million km. This is approximately 14 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
Therefore, there is no need to worry because the celestial body is not close enough to cause any damage to the earth. Samuel Corville, a scientist at Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration, puts it on an Earth-friendly scale.
“Imagine the Earth is the size of a tennis ball and our moon will be a centimeter six feet from Earth. Then that asteroid will be 60 to 80 feet from the tennis ball.”
– Moy Corvill inverted.
An asteroid, however, potentially dangerous?
Although he is not a danger to us today, Asteroid 2003 SD220 Still Considered a Potential Danger Because of the relative proximity to our planet.
“This small facility is dangerous most of the time. This means that it crosses the path of the earth, which makes it dangerous. If he never crosses the path of the earth, there is absolutely no chance of him hitting the earth.”
Corville says.
So while asteroid 2003 SD220 is potentially dangerous, it is practically harmless.
“It is still much closer than many other asteroids. But since we know its orbit very well, we have already rated its risks as close to zero.
Corville says.
Asteroid 2003 SD220 approached Earth by 11.5 million km in 2015, then in 2018 it was closer when it was It flew 2.9 million km.
Dimensions of the celestial body
The asteroid was first seen in 2003 by scientists at the Lowell Observatory for Near Earth Objects in Arizona.
It has an orbital period of 0.75 years around the Sun. This means that for every three times the Earth revolves around the sun, an asteroid revolves around the sun four times. Moreover, every three years, the orbit of the asteroid crosses the orbit of the Earth, bringing the pair closer to each other.
From the observations of scientists it appears that The asteroid is approximately 1.1 kilometers long. This makes it a very elongated asteroid, three times the height of the Empire State Building. The asteroid is believed to be part of the Athena group, a group of asteroids orbiting the Sun between Earth and Venus.
Interestingly, every time an object passed Earth, astronomers were able to take clear radar images of the asteroid and observe its orbit.
According to Corville, this is important for two reasons.
Asteroids are the building blocks of all matter in the solar system. These are remnants of what was there when the planets formed and help understand where the Earth came from and where the planets came from.”
Corville says.
Source: reverse
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