Asteroid 467460 (2006 JF42) flew above Earth. A potentially dangerous asteroid passed our planet on Monday night

Asteroid 467460 (2006 JF42) approached Earth on Monday night. It was 2.13 in Poland at the time. The shortest distance between cosmic rocks and our planet is more than five million kilometers. Classified by NASA as a “Potentially Hazardous” (PHA), it falls into this category because it is an asteroid with a diameter of at least 150 meters and can orbit the Earth no more than 7.48 million kilometers. Such cosmic rocks, if they collide with the Earth, will lead to disaster.

As previously reported by NASA’s Center for Near Earth Research (CNEOS), the asteroid was scheduled to move at approximately 41,000 kilometers per hour.

2006 JF42 Comes very close to our planet. According to orbital data, our planet passes every few years and is approximately at the same time of the year. Scientists said it will come close to us in the future. For example, on May 5, 2033, it will be approximately four million kilometers from our planet.

According to estimates by NASA astronomers, the diameter of the asteroid 467460 (2006 JF42) can reach 839 meters. Meanwhile, the height of the tallest building in the world – Burj Khalifa from Dubai – is 828 meters.

According to CNEOS, asteroids of different sizes pass through Earth all the time. According to scientists, up to 100 tons of cosmic dust can hit the surface of the planet every day. It is estimated that larger asteroids – around 100 meters in diameter – could collide with Earth and cause disasters about every 10,000 years.

As a precaution, scientists track the trails of thousands of asteroids every day. Scenarios to prevent a potential space rock collision have also been developed. In 2021, NASA launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, during which researchers intend to change the course of an asteroid’s journey through space.