NASA Calls for Assistance in Tracking Speeding Asteroid Heading Towards Earth
If you have an interest in astronomy and finding asteroids, NASA is offering you the opportunity to contribute to their efforts. The Daily Minor Planet Project allows astronomers and skywatchers to assist in the discovery and tracking of asteroids in space. By utilizing the Catalina Sky Survey, which takes around 1000 images each night, NASA aims to capture asteroids. However, the large volume of images requires additional personnel to study them, prompting NASA to seek assistance from the public.
NASA says: “You decide whether the spots of light in the images look like real celestial objects or are instead false observations caused by inconveniently timed star background ‘spots.'” After viewing the image, all you have to do is click the yes or no button and add a comment if necessary, before as you go to the next picture.
Asteroid 2023 NE1
NASA monitors asteroids, comets, and other Near Earth Objects (NEOs) for possible close approaches that could threaten Earth. The Space Agency has issued a warning about an anasteroid that will come very close to Earth today, July 19. According to the details, the asteroid named Asteroid 2023 NE1 will pass the Earth at a distance of about 4.8 million kilometers. While not a planet killer, this asteroid is still huge, with an estimated width of 190 feet. That makes it almost the size of an airplane!
The asteroid not only misses the earth at close range, but is hurtling towards us at blistering speed. NASA has revealed that asteroid 2023 NE1 is approaching Earth at a speed of 20,410 kilometers per hour.
Shockingly, this will be the first close-to-Earth approach in the history of Asteroid 2023 NE1. According to NASA’s Small-Body Database Lookup, it won’t get close in the near future.
Other details
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. .
Why do we need to track asteroids that are millions of kilometers away in space?
According to NASA, some of these ancient space rocks pose a potential impact threat to Earth, while others may be useful in discovering the secrets of space. Although asteroids are located far out in space, mainly in the asteroid belt, they often come close to the earth, passing close to the planet. This can happen if an asteroid is knocked off course by the gravitational pull of a large planet. Their orbits can also bring them very close to Earth.
