An asteroid the size of a bus will pass close to Earth today and you can see it live! – Teach me about Science

Illustration of asteroids passing close to Earth. (Image: NASA).

Exciting news for sky watchers: Tonight a bus-sized asteroid will pass close to Earth tonight and you can see it live. The small asteroid called 2022 GN1 will pass by at a distance of 127,000 kilometers, that’s much closer than the Moon, a short but safe distance.

Before he gets too excited, it can be hard to spot him on his own, so you can watch him on a live stream of the event hosted by Virtual Telescope Project.

The broadcast will go live at 9:00 pm EDT on April 5 (0100 GMT on April 6), and you can watch it directly in the window shown below or by visiting the Virtual Telescope Project website. We’re joining the show and will be providing a countdown and event updates on our Facebook accounts. Facebook and Twitter.

2022 GN1 is a newly discovered object, astronomers found it just last Friday, April 1, using data collected by the PanSTARRS telescope at Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii. It is estimated to be 7.2 to 16 meters wide, which is the size of a large bus. The dates of the close flyby are between April 5 and 6, with its closest point around 11:02 pm EDT (03:02 GMT) at a speed of approximately 34,500 mph. (Remember to convert to your local time in case it doesn’t match).

The asteroid in question is listed as potentially dangerous by the NASA Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS)but it will not collide with Earth, although the closest approach distance is considerable compared to other asteroids of similar size.

Every day our planet receives a large number of minor impacts from particles from space, only these are tiny and at most we can distinguish them when they burn up in the atmosphere. Of course, that does not mean that we are exempt from major collisions, in fact, scientists are alert to these possible scenarios and asteroids that could pose a threat are constantly monitored.

According to CNEOS, with an average interval of about 10,000 years, rocky or iron asteroids larger than 100 meters would be expected to reach the Earth’s surface and cause local disasters or produce tidal waves that can inundate low-lying coastal areas. While every several hundred thousand years, an asteroid larger than a kilometer could cause global disasters.

Currently we do not have much to worry about a global catastrophe caused by an asteroid impact, on the contrary, we can enjoy the views of the close pass of one. As is the case with asteroid 2022 GN1 tonight, and it’s a unique opportunity since the next time it could be seen is in August 2056. Well, if you don’t want to wait that long, it’s right here in front of you now.

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