A giant asteroid is approaching Earth. It will be dangerously close.

Asteroid 2011 UL21 will pass near Earth

Giant asteroid 2011 UL21 In the coming days, it will fly “beyond” the Earth. According to scientists, this potentially threatening object could lead to “radical climate change.” A space rock the size of Mount Everest will be one of the largest and “potentially dangerous” asteroids to pass by our planet in the past 125 years. On June 27, 2011, UL21 is scheduled to reach within four million miles of Earth. This will be its closest approach in 110 years.

This is a great treat for sky watchers, because… The asteroid will be visible from Earth. — with the right equipment, of course. 2011 UL21 will be visible from June 27, but will be brightest on June 28 and 29. The European Space Agency reported that the asteroid is 99 percent larger than known objects very close to Earth. Its diameter is estimated at about 2,300 meters, and it belongs to the Apollo asteroid group.

Asteroid 2011 UL21 ‘potentially dangerous’

Named after the Greek god Apollo, known for his epic journeys, these asteroids come in different sizes and range in diameter from a few meters to several kilometers, such as 2011 UL21. Most importantly, they are getting closer to each other, crossing the Earth’s orbit, even though their orbits around the Sun are larger than those of our planet, explains Gianluca Masi, astrophysicist and scientific director of the Virtual Telescope Project, which organizes the live broadcast. 2011 UL21 flight broadcast in the Daily Mail.

Astronomers have been watching 2011 UL21 closely for months and monitoring its path to ensure the safety of Earth’s residents. “The term ‘potentially hazardous asteroid’ (PHA) is a precise formal definition that refers to smaller objects, larger than about 460 feet, that could reach a distance of 7.6 million kilometers from Earth,” explains Gianluca Masi.

Importantly, 2011 UL21 is also called a “killer planet” because it is an asteroid capable of causing damage on a continental scale and producing enough debris upon impact to cause significant climate change. Fortunately – say researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – an asteroid of this category will not hit Earth for at least the next thousand years.

Source: ZET Radio/esa.int/dailymail.co.uk