According to the news prepared by the British newspaper The Guardian, an asteroid large enough to destroy a city will pass between the orbit of the Earth and the Moon this weekend. According to the same report, NASA said it’s rare for an asteroid this big to come this close, and that such events only occur once every ten years.
HERE IS WHAT THE ‘CITY KILLER’ SAID!
Other information in the news is as follows:
- Discovered a month ago, the asteroid known as 2023 DZ2 will pass within 515,000 km of the Moon on Saturday, and a few hours later it will pass near Earth at around 28,000 km/h.
A newly discovered #asteroid named 2023 DZ2 will safely pass by Earth on Saturday at 100K+ miles away. ????
While close approaches are a regular occurrence, one by an asteroid of this size (140-310 ft) happens only about once per decade, providing a unique opportunity for science.
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) March 21, 2023
This close pass will give astronomers the chance to examine a space rock from just over 68,000 km away. At less than half its distance from the Moon, the asteroid will be visible with binoculars and small telescopes.
Scientists estimate that the diameter of the meteorite is between 40 and 90 meters.
The asteroid is expected to make a harmless transit.
Richard Moissl, the European Space Agency’s Chief of Planetary Defense, said in a statement.city killer’ has no chance of hitting Earthbut its close approach offers a great opportunity for observations,” he said.
- The asteroid won’t be in our way again until 2026.