Asteroid 'Bigger Than London Bridge' To Zoom Past Earth On September 17

There's been heavy asteroid traffic close to Earth everyday in 2020 it seems. One flew past Earth on September 14 and, now, a giant Asteroid 2014 QJ33 estimated to be the size of the London Bridge is predicted to pass by Earth on September 17.

Asteroid 2014 QJ33 has been listed as a near-Earth object (NEO) by NASA and is classified as the Apollo asteroid with a peak diameter of 110 metres.

Representational Image/NASA

However, even though it is a NEO there is nothing to worry about as the space agency said that the closest big asteroid fly-bys of 2020 will prove to be safe as the celestial objects will fly past the planet Earth without collision.

The space rock is predicted to be 157 to 360 feet wide and could be as big as the London Bridge.

Representational Image/NASA

It will be flying past Earth at a speed of 8.66 kilometres a second or 19,371 miles per hour. 'NEO is also a term used to describe comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth¡¯s neighbourhood,' NASA said in a release. The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) scientists predicted that the asteroid would not be a threat to human life as it will pass through Earth's orbit at a distance of 2.56 million kilometres.

Also Read: Car-Sized Asteroid Which Flew Past Earth Unnoticed By NASA Was Discovered By IIT Bombay Students

Representational Image/NASA

According to Sky Live, considering the next 10 years this will be Asteroid 2014 QJ33's closest approach on Thursday 17 September 2020 at 23:50 UTC time. The distance between Asteroid 2014 QJ33 and the Earth is 2,563,155 kilometers, which is a distance equivalent to 6.6668 Lunar distances.

At least one can stop worrying about a space rock falling on the head in 2020.

Also Read: An Asteroid Is Going To Pass By Earth At A Much Closer Distance Than The Moon

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