A "potentially hazardous" asteroid will fly past the Earth today, but don't worry, this isn't a world-ending event.
Dubbed 2008 OS7, the celestial visitor will approach our planet from a distance of 1.7 million miles at precisely 14:41 GMT (09:41 ET), a safe seven times farther than the moon.
The asteroid measures an estimated 1,574 feet (480 meters) in diameter, and as it zips by, the asteroid will demonstrate remarkable speed, hurtling through space at 18.1 km per second, or over 40,000 miles per hour – an astonishing 50 times the speed of sound.
Despite its "potentially hazardous" classification, experts assure that 2008 OS7 poses no threat to Earth.
Dr. Minjae Kim, a space expert from the University of Warwick's astronomy department, emphasized the negligible risk, stating: "While this will still approach close to the Earth, we don't need to worry about it too much as this asteroid will not enter Earth's atmosphere," per the Daily Mail.
Discovered in 2008 by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, 2008 OS7 completes an orbit around the sun every 962 days (2.63 years). Dr. Kim highlighted its relatively diminutive size, noting: "One of the most intriguing aspects of the 2008 OS7 is its estimated diameter based on its luminosity and reflective properties. This places it in the category of a small to moderately-sized asteroid, roughly equivalent to the size of a football field."
NASA's online tracker flagged 2008 OS7 as one of the upcoming close approaches, even though it remains too small to be seen by the naked eye or an average telescope. The space agency categorizes an asteroid as "potentially hazardous" if it comes within 0.05 astronomical units (4.65 million miles) of Earth and exceeds 459 feet (140 meters) in diameter.
Despite its distant pass, the asteroid falls under the classification of a near-Earth object (NEO) and is closely monitored by NASA. NEOs, defined as comets and asteroids affected by nearby planets' gravitational forces, offer valuable insights into the solar system's formation process.
A NASA statement explained: "The scientific interest in comets and asteroids is due largely to their status as the relatively unchanged remnant debris from the solar system formation process some 4.6 billion years ago."
As for 2008 OS7, it won't make a return visit until 2032, maintaining a much safer distance of 45 million miles (72 million kilometers) away.
While you're looking up at the sky, perhaps an eclipse might be of interest too, as the one set for 2024 is due to be the longest in 100 years.
The upcoming event on April 8, 2024, is poised to achieve a remarkable maximum duration of 4 minutes and 28.2 seconds in north-central Mexico, securing its membership in the exclusive "Four Minute or Greater Club." This places it in the top 25% in terms of duration among the sampled solar eclipses, according to Joe Rao, a veteran meteorologist.
Drawing a parallel with historical eclipses, the April 8, 2024, eclipse resembles the 1806 spectacle that graced the northern Midwest, New York State, and New England.
The eclipse in 1806 had a total phase duration of 4 minutes and 53 seconds near Marblehead, Massachusetts. The forthcoming eclipse is poised to rival this 19th-century marvel.
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