A trio of asteroids, including two classified as potentially hazardous, will pass through Earth’s orbit this week.
According to NASA, the first asteroid named 2012 DK31 will glide past our planet at a distance of just 4.8 million kilometers on February 27 (U.S. time, which corresponds to the evening of February 27 to the morning of February 28 in Vietnam).
Many asteroids frequently “threaten” Earth – (Photo: ASTRONOMY MAGAZINE).
Previous calculations indicate that this extraterrestrial threat has a diameter comparable to the height of a 40-story building, approximately 137 meters. Its orbit around the Sun intersects with Earth’s orbit every few years.
According to Live Science, although this asteroid won’t cause a collision during this close approach, NASA has classified it as a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” (PHA), meaning it is large enough and its orbit is close enough to Earth to pose a potential risk.
Unexpected orbital changes in asteroids are not rare, and PHAs are classified as having the potential to collide if such orbital changes occur.
On February 28 (U.S. time), a second PHA, also with a diameter of about 137 meters, will approach our planet even closer – at a distance of only 3.5 million kilometers. This asteroid is named 2006 BE55, “threatening” Earth approximately every 4-5 years.
Finally, on March 3 (U.S. time), an object with a diameter of about 76 meters will pass by Earth at a distance of 5.3 million kilometers. However, this asteroid, named 2021 QW, is not large enough to be classified as a PHA, although it does pose a threat to Earth every few years.
