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A car-sized #asteroid flew within 1,830 miles of #Earth over the weekend — the closest pass ever — and we didn't see it coming
https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/a-car-size-asteroid-flew-within-1830-miles-of-earth-over-the-weekend-the-closest-pass-ever-and-we-didnt-see-it-coming/articleshow/77603002.cms
https://www.businessinsider.in/science/news/a-car-size-asteroid-flew-within-1830-miles-of-earth-over-the-weekend-the-closest-pass-ever-and-we-didnt-see-it-coming/articleshow/77603002.cms
#NASA knows about only a fraction of near-Earth objects (NEOs) like this one.
2020 QG flew over the Southern Hemisphere
This recent near-Earth asteroid was initially called ZTF0DxQ but is now formally known to astronomers as 2020 QG. As far as space rocks go, 2020 QG wasn't too dangerous.
This recent near-Earth asteroid was initially called ZTF0DxQ but is now formally known to astronomers as 2020 QG. As far as space rocks go, 2020 QG wasn't too dangerous.
That's a remarkably close shave — the closest ever recorded, in fact, according to asteroid trackers and a catalog compiled by Sormano Astronomical Observatory in Italy.
Because of its size, the space rock likely wouldn't have posed any danger to people on the ground had it struck our planet. But the close call is worrisome nonetheless, since astronomers had no idea the #asteroid existed until after it passed by.
Instead, the Palomar Observatory in California first detected the space rock about six hours after it flew by #Earth.
Many do not cross any telescope's line of sight, and several potentially dangerous asteroids have snuck up on scientists in recent years. If the wrong one slipped through the gaps in our NEO-surveillance systems, it could kill tens of thousands of people.
Not dangerous, but definitely not welcome
Telescope observations suggest the object is between 6 feet (2 meters) and 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide — somewhere between the size of a small car and an extended-cab pickup truck.
Telescope observations suggest the object is between 6 feet (2 meters) and 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide — somewhere between the size of a small car and an extended-cab pickup truck.
That's about the same as one of the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in 1945. But the airburst would have happened about 2 or 3 miles above the ground, so it wouldn't have sounded any louder than heavy traffic to people on the ground.
#NASA is actively scanning the skies for such threats, as Congress has required it to do since 2005. However, the agency is mandated to detect only 90% of "city killer" space rocks larger than about 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter.
