Asteroid bigger than the size of Qutub Minar to fly by Earth on June 6; Know all about it

Just a week after witnessing the biggest asteroid of 2022, Earth will see another space rock make its closest approach on June 6. The incoming asteroid is named 2021 GT2 and measures between 121 and 272 feet (37 to 83 meters) across, as per the estimates of astronomers. NASA revealed that the asteroid is hurtling towards us at a speed of 26,000 kilometres per hour but will make its flyby at a safe distance from Earth. In fact, the object would be more the 3.5 million kilometres from Earth which is nearly ten times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. Due to this reason, the asteroid is not even in the “potentially hazardous” category.

More about the asteroid approaching the Earth

According to NASA, the 2021 GT2 belongs to the Aten-class of asteroids, and astronomers have identified over 1,800 such objects so far, space.com reported. Asteroids in this class are basically the ones that have an orbit shorter than that of Earth and also cross the orbital path of our planet. 

Interestingly, this particular asteroid will make its next closest approach to Earth on January 26 in 1934 but will be around 14.5 million kilometres from Earth, much farther from its approaching flyby.

While it is not considered hazardous, NASA has clarified it as a near-Earth object (NEO). The agency labels an object a NEO when it is orbiting the sun within 1.3 astronomical units (one astronomical unit is the distance between the sun and the Earth). NASA keeps monitoring such objects to make sure that they do not change their orbital path and head toward the Earth. 

In order to be prepared for any impending danger, NASA has launched one and is working on several other planetary defense missions. Last November, NASA launched one such mission named Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) toward an asteroid system located around eight million kilometres from Earth. Under this mission, the DART spacecraft will slam into a binary asteroid system consisting of Didymos which is a Greek word for “twin”. The target is half-mile across and its smaller companion is called Dimorphos which is a Greek word for “two forms” and is 530 feet across. Tap here to read more about this one-of-a-kind mission.