2023 QC5 Asteroid to Make Historic Near-Earth Flyby
Following the triumph of NASA’s groundbreaking Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which effectively altered the trajectory of an approaching asteroid to avert a collision with Earth, the European Space Agency is now gearing up to investigate the consequences of the collision between the DART spacecraft and the Dimorphos asteroid using its Hera spacecraft. Hera will embark on a mission to closely examine the aftermath of the impact, collecting crucial data including the dimensions of the impact crater, the asteroid’s mass, as well as its composition and internal structure.
Using its advanced ground and space telescopes such as the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Pans-STARRS1, NASA has discovered an asteroid that is buzzing the earth. in the coming days.
Details of Asteroid 2023 QC5
According to data revealed by NASA, the asteroid, known as Asteroid 2023 QC5, is close to Earth and traveling at 27,327 kilometers per hour. It will make its closest approach to Earth on September 8. On that day, it will come within 4 million kilometers of the planet. Amazingly, this will be the first close-to-Earth approach by Asteroid 2023 QC5. According to NASA, no other close approach is predicted for the foreseeable future.
This space rock belongs to the Cupid group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are near-Earth asteroids whose orbits are outside the Earth but inside Mars. The asteroid is named after the asteroid 1221 Amor, discovered in 1932 by the Belgian astronomer E. Delporte. .
In terms of size, NASA estimates it to be about 79 feet across, making it almost the size of an airplane and slightly larger than the Chelyabinsk asteroid. Although its small size prevents it from being a potentially dangerous object, it can still cause damage if it hits the surface, as the Chelyabinsk incident shows.
These close approaches have served as a reminder of the threat posed by these space rocks and highlighted the importance of tracking and studying them. But how does NASA do it?
How NASA Tracks an Asteroid – The Process Explained
As NASA’s telescopes track a new Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA), astronomers measure the asteroid’s observed positions in the sky and report them to the Minor Planet Center. The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) then uses this information to determine the asteroid’s most likely orbit around the Sun, according to NASA.
NASA’s new Sentry II uses a new algorithm and picks random points from the entire uncertainty range to estimate whether an impact is possible and narrow down where the actual orbit might be. This allows the Sentry-II to be reset for very low probability scenarios.
