NASA has issued a warning that a giant asteroid, 2013 BO76, is headed for Earth and has the potential to cause significant damage. The asteroid is approximately 400 feet wide and is expected to make its closest approach to our planet on November 7th of this year. While the odds of an impact are low, NASA is urging people to take precautions in case the asteroid does hit us.
Asteroid 2013 BO76 will be passing Earth on Thursday, March 24, 2013. In its course, the asteroid will reach speeds of 50,000 km/h. NASA considers the asteroid potentially dangerous because of its width. You can read the entire article below.
Asteroid 2013 BO76, which is the same size as the Empire State Building will be the closest to Earth on March 24, 2013. The asteroid would be approximately 3.1 million miles away from Earth, which is 13 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. Although Asteroid 2013 BO76 was included in the Nasa list of “Close Approaches”, it is not a threat to our planet.
What risks does an approaching asteroid pose?
While there is no chance of it hitting us, it will come close enough for us to get a good look at it. This will be the largest object to come this close to Earth since 2006.
The asteroid is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on December 26, 2013.
NASA is alerting the public about a 400-foot-wide giant asteroid that is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on December 26, 2013. The asteroid, known as 2013 BO76, will come within about 7.5 million miles of our planet, or about 31 times the distance between Earth and the moon.
Although this asteroid poses no threat to Earth, NASA is urging people to watch it closely online over the next few weeks in case it changes course. Amateur astronomers with telescopes as small as 6 inches in diameter should be able to see it. 2013 BO76 was discovered by a Japanese amateur astronomer on November 20th and has been tracked by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program ever since.
The last time an object this large came this close to Earth was in 2006 when an asteroid called 99942 Apophis made its closest approach on April 13th.
Numerous near-Earth objects (NEOs), which are constantly tracked, provide a warning system in case they move onto a collision course. Noting that an asteroid’s course can be easily changed is important. Asteroid 2013 BO76 will be joining the seven other space objects expected to pass Earth during a close approach on March 24, 2013.
The space agency has not found any asteroids that pose a risk of collision. Since the time the rock that killed the dinosaurs, our planet hasn’t seen an asteroid with such a catastrophic impact. There are smaller entities that could cause complete destruction of an entire city to happen every now and again.
