Two Asteroids, the size of an airplane, to fly by close to Earth on September 23

Many a times immoral asteroids have been an object of fear and trepidation for people on Earth. Hence, when NASA was formed in 1952, watching over and tracking the movement of Asteroids was one of its major goals. In keeping with that goal, today, NASA is tracking the course of several hundreds of asteroids that could potentially be hazardous to human life on Earth. 

The space agency has deployed specific Asteroid watching satellites and maintains a record of their course and with the help of NASA Asteroid watch data on its official website. The asteroid watching widget on NASA’s JPL website is showing two asteroids which are scheduled flyby close to Earth on Wednesday, September 23. Here is what we know about Asteroids 2020 RE8 & 2020 RA2.

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How close will the Asteroids come to Earth?

According to a report on NASA’s JPL website, at its closest approach, Asteroid RA2 will be 0.0471 astronomical units away from Earth. In miles, this means the space rock will be only 4,390,000 miles away from Earth’s surface. While this might not seem like a lot, in astronomical terms this distance is pretty close. Asteroid RE8 at its closest approach will only be 0.00682783 au away from Earth. Which means it will be only 4,310,000 miles away.

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When were these Asteroids first observed?

NASA has stated that Asteroid RE8 was first observed on September 14, 2020, while 2020 RA2 was first seen on August 15, 2020. 2020 RA2 has been classified in Amor group of Asteroids as it is Near-Earth Object (NEO). The Amor asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids which were named after the archetype object 1221 Amor. 2020 RE8 has been classified among Apollo group of asteroids.

They are a bunch of near-Earth asteroids named after the 1862 Apollo asteroid. The asteroid was discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. Both these asteroids are the size of an aeroplane. Asteroid 2020 RE8 is 93 feet. Asteroid RA2 is 68 feet.

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What time will the Asteroids approach close to Earth?

According to NASA, the 2020 RE8 will be closest to Earth at 2:24 UTC. This is 7:24 pm Tuesday, Pacific Time (PT). While the 2020 RA2 will be closest to Earth at 17:32 UTC which is 10:32 am Wednesday, Pacific Time (PT). 

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