Satellites, including asteroids apart from the moon, orbit around planets in space. These are not moons but are referred to as dwarf planets or minor planets because they are similar in structure to planets. Another reason they are called planets is that they revolve around the sun, just like planets. However, satellites orbit around a planet. Since the orbit of an asteroid is different from that of a planet, they can also come in the path of planets. For the past few months, asteroids have been passing near Earth in the form of large boulders. They are tracked by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has issued the latest asteroid alert, stating that two asteroids will come close to Earth in the coming days. These boulders will be very close to Earth within the next 48 hours. One of them measures 190 feet in size, while the other measures 31 feet. Let’s learn more about them.
According to JPL, the branch responsible for asteroid tracking at NASA, two large asteroids are expected to come close to Earth in two days. One of them is named Asteroid 2023 LN1. It is a massive boulder among the two, measuring approximately 190 feet or about the size of a commercial airplane. It will come within a range of 6,860,000 kilometers from Earth. This distance is not too far, as an asteroid can be dangerous for Earth if it comes closer than 7.5 million kilometers, according to NASA.
The second boulder, Asteroid 2018 NW, is also approaching Earth on the same day. It is a fragment measuring 31 feet. It is approaching Earth at a speed of 78,542 kilometers. NASA has stated on their website that it will pass within a range of 6,910,000 kilometers from Earth. Both of these asteroids will pass near Earth on July 10. It remains to be seen whether they will pass directly or if their trajectory will change.
In any case, NASA has issued alerts for both asteroids. However, no information has been provided suggesting that they will collide with Earth. Nevertheless, asteroids should not be taken lightly. In 2013, an asteroid named Chelyabinsk exploded in the sky in Russia, causing damage to 7,000 buildings and injuring over 1,400 people. The size of that asteroid was 59 feet. Similarly, if an asteroid gets attracted to Earth, it can cause devastation many times greater.
