Asteroid the size of a small island to fly past Earth this Friday
Asteroid the size of a small island to fly past Earth this Friday
A massive asteroid the size of a small island is set to pass by Earth this Friday, according to NASA's asteroid tracker.
A massive asteroid the size of a small island is set to pass by Earth this Friday, according to NASA's asteroid tracker.
Designated 7335 (1989 JA), this large asteroid is estimated by NASA to be around 1.8 kilometers wide.
Designated 7335 (1989 JA), this large asteroid is estimated by NASA to be around 1.8 kilometers wide.
For context, Plum Island, the small island off the coast of New York, is around 1.6 kilometers wide.
For context, Plum Island, the small island off the coast of New York, is around 1.6 kilometers wide.
Heading towards our direction at a speed of around 13.12 kilometers per second,
Heading towards our direction at a speed of around 13.12 kilometers per second,
this asteroid is set to pass us by at a distance of over 4 million kilometers away, according to the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
this asteroid is set to pass us by at a distance of over 4 million kilometers away, according to the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
For context, the Moon orbits the Earth at a distance of roughly 384,000 kilometers, so this is considerably farther.
For context, the Moon orbits the Earth at a distance of roughly 384,000 kilometers, so this is considerably farther.