100-foot asteroid dashing towards Earth at 29520 kmph tomorrow, says NASA

Source: Hindustan Times, Nov. 3, 2022 8:52 PM

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ou may have heard many reports of upcoming asteroids that pose a

serious danger to the Earth. But did you know that these asteroids are relatively small inactive bodies composed of rocky, dusty, and metallic materials, which orbit around the Sun. Most of them are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. However, there are some monster rocks that follow paths that circulate into the inner solar system which also include the near-Earth asteroids. These are the main dangers that keep NASA scientists in active mode all the time to assess how hazardous these asteroids really are- in short, will they come too close to Earth, will they crash into it, or just fly by.

Notably, one of these asteroids named Asteroid 2022 UN5 is on its way to Earth on Nov. 4! It is a 100-foot giant in diameter and is hurtling towards Earth at a speed of 29520 kmph. NASA's JPL data has informed us that this space rock will come as close as 3.51 million miles to Earth. Hence, NASA listed it as a potentially hazardous asteroid. This is so because an asteroid is said to be potentially hazardous based on two factors - distance from the Earth and its size.

According to this, any asteroid that comes within 4.6 million miles or 7.5 million kilometers to Earth, or if it measures larger than about 150 meters, it can be termed as a potentially hazardous asteroid. So, that is why asteroid 2022 UN5 is said to be a potential threat to Earth as it will make a close approach of 3.51 million miles. But that's not all!.

Where did asteroids come from?

According to NASA, asteroids are left over from the formation of our solar system. Our solar system began about 4.6 billion years ago when a big cloud of gas and dust collapsed. When this happened, most of the material fell to the centre of the cloud and formed the sun.

Some of the condensing dust in the cloud became planets. The objects in the asteroid belt never had the chance to be incorporated into planets. They are leftovers from that time long ago when planets formed.