No threat to Earth as huge asteroid zooms past | Al Jazeera

The largest asteroid to pass by Earth this year has made its closest approach, posing no threat of a cataclysmic collision but giving astronomers a rare chance to study a rock formed during the beginning of our solar system.

The asteroid was two million kilometres (1.25 million miles) away at its nearest, according to NASA – more than five times the distance between the Earth and the Moon but still close enough to be classified as a “potentially hazardous asteroid”.

NASA tracks and catalogues such objects that could potentially slam into Earth and unleash enormous destruction, like the massive asteroid that wiped out 75 percent of life on the planet 66 million years ago.

Asteroid 2001 FO32, discovered 20 years ago, was too far to be that dangerous even as it reached its nearest point to Earth at around 14:00 GMT on Sunday, according to the Paris Observatory. NASA said it was travelling at about 124,000 km/h (77,000 mph)....

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Sunday, March 21, 2021

Large asteroid to pass 'close' by earth - rte

An asteroid some 900 metres in diameter will have what in astronomical terms is deemed a 'close encounter' with earth today. 

The nearest it will get to earth  will be two million kilometres  away, according to the US space agency, NASA.

It said there is no threat of a collision with our planet "now or for centuries to come".

But it said it is close enough for the asteroid - named 2001 FO32- to be classified as a "potentially hazardous asteroid".

NASA says it will pass by at about 124,000 kilometres per hour, faster than the speed at which most asteroids encounter Earth.

The asteroid will be at its closest to Earth at around 1600 GMT today, according to the Paris Observatory, France's largest astronomy research centre.