A newly discovered asteroid has been imaged flying closer to Earth than telecom satellites. We will see the asteroid passing near Earth again. Experts warn of other large asteroids lurking in the dark.
Many space agencies around the world monitor asteroids. Despite this, there are meteorites that are overlooked in the endless darkness of Space.
Finally, a car-sized asteroid was discovered the day it approached Earth. The asteroid was so close to Earth that the orbits of large telecommunications satellites launched into space remained far away.
Passing within approximately 35,000 kilometers, the 2022 YO1 will do very little damage at worst if it hits Earth. After meteorites enter the atmosphere, they burn with the heat created by friction.
In 2013, an asteroid that turned into a fireball exploded in the skies of Russia and destroyed thousands of windows. The 2013 asteroid was about 40 meters in diameter, 10 times the size of the newly discovered 2022 YO1.
This may not be the last time we see the 2022 YO1. Early models of its orbital path through the inner solar system show it will return for another pass near Earth in 2024.
As astronomers continue to catalog and track more asteroids and comets than ever before, a major concern for planetary conservation remains humanity’s few blind spots.
There are relatively few observatories observing from the Southern Hemisphere, and we also have trouble detecting some objects coming from the Sun’s direction.
The asteroid that exploded over Russia ten years ago came from this direction and was completely unexplored until it exploded in the sky.
The US Aerospace Agency’s (NASA) Double Asteroid Orientation Test (DART) spacecraft successfully crashed into the asteroid, approximately 11 million kilometers from Earth, as planned.
NASA engineers calculated the change to be 73 seconds, but post-crash data revealed that the change in orbit was 25 times greater.
The DART mission is being developed as a precautionary measure if there is a danger of a large asteroid hitting the Earth.
With missiles to be launched from Earth or from stations in space, dangerous meteorites will be hit and their trajectories will be changed.
