One of them came close to our planet in the early morning of April 28. It is an asteroid classified as potentially dangerous. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) reported its proximity. But there is more. We will tell you here about four asteroids close to Earth.
This is asteroid 2344 AG33. Why is it considered potentially dangerous? Because it was located less than one astronomical unit from the planet. That is, eight times the distance between the Moon and the Earth. This was explained by astronomer Julieta Fierro, according to NASA criteria.
Visitors
This asteroid will again approach the planet in May 2029. It was identified in 2008 from an observatory in Arizona, USA. The object is 457 meters high and travels 30 times faster than the speed of sound.
NASA reports that there are more. There are in total four asteroids near the Earth. They will pass from April 28 to 2. They are as follows:
2022 HX1: it is 14 meters high. On April 30 it will pass 2 million 490,000 kilometers from Earth
2022 HS: 19 meters high. It will be located on May 1 at 2 million 550,000 kilometers from our planet.
2017 XO2: 119 meters high. It will transit 4 million 480,000 kilometers from us.
2022 HA2: on May 2 we will receive this asteroid. It will be at a distance of 4 million 620,000 kilometers.
Cold War
Detection of these space objects began during the Cold War. Enemy satellites were suspected during the Cold War. “It was discovered that they were asteroids. So a kind of space police was established, which had a telescope in Honduras dedicated to it,” Fierro said.
Asteroids are remnants of the solar system formation process. An asteroid collided in Chicxulub, in Yucatan, an episode that put an end to the age of the dinosaurs. The powers of the world are making plans to deal with such a situation in our time.
China, for example, will send a probe to try to destroy the asteroid Bennu with five rockets. It will be a rehearsal in case some similar object threatens the Earth’s surface.
