Potentially dangerous asteroid 3x size of Statue Of Liberty to fly by Earth in September

In a barrage of asteroids racing past Earth this year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has spotted another asteroid that will fly by Earth later this month. Dubbed as ‘2021 NY1’, the 'potentially hazardous massive celestial object is estimated to pass our planet by September 22. 

As per sources, NASA has measured 2021 NY1’s size to be around 330 metres, which is almost three times the size of the Statue of Liberty (93 metres) and is estimated to travel at a speed of 33,619 kmph.

Notably, NASA’s advancement in detecting this new near-Earth object (NEO) has added another discovery to their list. According to NASA, NEOs are objects like asteroids or comets that fly by our planet in a distance range less than 1.3 times that of the Earth and the Sun (about 151 million km). Recently, the space agency’s planetary radar made its 1000th discovery of such asteroids.

NASA'S recent success

On August 14, NASA observed the asteroid 2021 PJ1, which marked the 1000th discovery of the agency's planetary radar in terms of near-Earth asteroids (NEA). The non-threatening object flew by at a distance of about 1.7 million kilometres and was measured to be between 20 to 30 metres wide. Pushing through the milestone, the agency discovered its 1001st asteroid named 2016 AJ193, just a week after the last one. This one flew by at a distance of 3.4 million kilometres and was 40 times larger than 2021 PJ1 with a diameter of about 1.3 kilometres.

Significance of asteroid-detection

Experts believe that asteroid detections can improve our knowledge of such entities, and the data and calculations derived from the analysis can help determine if the asteroids are going to hit Earth or just pass close by. Moreover, the observations can even provide data millions of kilometres away on physical properties that is otherwise possible only by observing these objects up close or via a spacecraft. 

The recent analysis about the claims of a potential crash of the 'Apophis' asteroid, which was earlier classified as hazardous, was refuted as the data has eliminated all possibilities of any catastrophe for at least the next 100 years.

(IMAGE CREDIT: PIXABAY)