On Wednesday (Sept. 22), the autumn equinox will convey the Earth about 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of night time and a renegade space rock measuring about 3 times the dimensions of the Statue of Liberty.
This asteroid, named 2021 NY1, will sail harmlessly previous our planet, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, however continues to be thought of a Near-Earth Object (NEO) as a result of it should cross inside about 120 million miles (193 million kilometers) of the sun.
By that normal, asteroid 2021 NY1 will make a comparatively shut method of about 970,000 miles (1,560,000 km) away from Earth — or simply beneath 4 instances the gap between Earth and the moon.
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While asteroids like this pose no risk to life on Earth, NASA screens all NEOs on the off likelihood that their orbits would possibly change sooner or later, bringing them nearer to a collision with our planet. Studying the traits of NEOs also can reveal new details about the early days of the solar system, as most asteroids are rocky fragments originating from that point.
Asteroid 2021 NY1 is a decent-sized rock, measuring between about 425 and 985 toes in diameter (130 to 300 meters), or someplace between three and 6 Statues of Liberty tall, in accordance with NASA’s NEO database. The freewheeling rock is cruising via space at about 21,000 mph (33,800 km/h) — or roughly 27 instances the speed of sound.
For what it is value, this autumnal asteroid is nowhere close to the closest ever to cross via our neighborhood. That honor goes to the asteroid 2020 QG, which zipped simply 1,830 miles (2,950 km) above the Indian Ocean on Aug. 16, 2020, Live Science’s sister website Space.com reported. No recognized asteroids have come nearer — with out burning up within the ambiance or hitting our planet’s floor.
Originally printed on Live Science.
