The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has sent out a warning about a “potentially hazardous” asteroid that would cross by planet Earth today.
The asteroid, named 2020 ND, has an estimated size of 480 ft - even larger than the London Eye.
2020 ND is currently travelling at a speed of 48,000 kilometres per hour.
The asteroid is expected to maintain a distance of 0.034 astronomical units, or 5,086,328 kilometres from Earth. This means it is classified as a PHA or a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid.
“Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth. Specifically, all asteroids with a minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of 0.05 au or less are considered PHAs,” read a NASA statement.
However, an asteroid being classified as a PHA does not necessarily mean it is harmful.
According to the organisation, “It only means there is a possibility for such a threat. By monitoring these PHAs and updating their orbits as new observations become available, we can better predict the close-approach statistics and thus their Earth-impact threat.”
Published 24 July 2020, 10:44 IST