Asteroids can fly at close distances and not all impact the Earth’s surface. However, there is no assurance that none of them ever will. In 2013, an asteroid as large as a house exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia, causing damage to more than 8000 buildings and almost 1000 people were injured. Furthermore, another small space rock hit 94-gas chambers on two French women’ houses and struck her chest! These close approaches highlight the importance of monitoring for asteroids.
NASA has identified an asteroid that will be detected in the near future using high-tech ground and space-based telescopes such as ATLAS, WISE, and Pans-STARRS1.
Asteroid 2023 OE5 provides specific information.
NASA has unveiled that Asteroid 2023 OE5 is currently in close proximity to Earth, moving at a speed of 13930 kilometers per hour. It will make its closest approach on August 14, when it will reach an estimated distance of 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.
This object is part of the Apollo group of asteroids, which are Earth-massing space rocks with semi-major axes that are larger than those on Earth. They are named after the massive 1862 Apollo asteroid discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.
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NASA has determined that Asteroid 2023 OE5 is nearly as large as a house due to its size, which is around 58 feet wide. As remarked earlier, Asteroids are not considered killers on our planets. However, it could cause harm if it crashes into the surface, as it is almost the same size as the Chelyabinsk asteroid.
The size of an asteroid, which would need to be roughly 96 km wide, could result in the complete destruction of life on Earth, although smaller asteroids like Asteroid 2023 OE5 can also cause damage. These close approaches have served as a warning about the danger of tracking and studying these space rocks.