Do dinosaurs fascinate you? Do you know how they became extinct? Well, it is believed that the collision of a giant asteroid with the planet Earth was the cause of the same. Imagine what will happen if something similar happens now? NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) tracks the motion and trajectory of asteroids and provides information on their speed, distance and more. In particular, our planet is surrounded by a large number of near-Earth objects (NEOs) in space that pose a threat to the entire planet. And asteroids, one of the NEOs, can, depending on its size and speed, have an enormous destructive power.
According to the latest details provided by NASA’s JPL, a large house-sized 44-foot asteroid named 2016 WH is hurtling toward Earth today, Sunday, March 19. As for the size of Asteroid 2016 WH, it varies between 11 meters and 24 meters in diameter. The asteroid is not that massive and does not pose any kind of threat to planet Earth as it will simply pass it if it continues to travel in the orbit it is in.
According to JPL, the asteroid will come closest to Earth at a distance of 6.93 million kilometers. The asteroid also moves at an astonishing speed of 42372 kilometers per hour.
It is noteworthy that not all of the asteroids pose a threat to the planet, but it is important for us to track them to find those that could be a threat to Earth. To keep an eye on the asteroids and track their movements, NASA has deployed several Earth and Sky based technologies like telescopes, satellites and more.
Along with the 44-foot asteroid, another small 15-foot asteroid named 2023 FO is also approaching Earth today. It is zooming towards the planet at a speed of 22,428 kilometers per hour and will approach Earth at a distance of 346,000 kilometers, according to NASA’s JPL.