NASA announces that Asteroid 2024 CP4 will pass by Earth today; Find out the proximity of its approach
Yesterday, Earth had a close encounter with three asteroids, all of which were traveling at incredibly high speeds. These asteroids typically orbit the Sun within the main asteroid belt, situated between Mars and Jupiter. However, occasionally, the gravitational pull of a massive planet can disrupt their trajectory, causing them to veer towards our planet with the potential for impact. To prevent such collisions, space agencies diligently monitor the paths of these celestial objects. Moreover, they have devised advanced techniques to track their movements and, if necessary, redirect them away from Earth to avert any potential danger.
NASA has recently used sophisticated space and ground-based telescopes to track an asteroid that is scheduled to fly past Earth today, February 16.
Asteroid 2024 CP4: Details
NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) has named the asteroid Asteroid 2024 CP4. It orbits at a speed of about 41,804 kilometers per hour, which is even faster than Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)! According to the US space agency, this asteroid will come within 2.1 million kilometers of Earth today.
Although this asteroid is passing close, it is not large enough to cause panic or potential damage. According to NASA, the asteroid is 95 feet wide, making it almost the size of an airplane! However, if it hits the ground, it can still cause some damage. In 2013, a smaller 59-foot asteroid exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, damaging 7,000 buildings and injuring more than 1,000 people. This asteroid is almost three times the size of the Chelyabinsk asteroid!
Asteroid 2024 CP4 belongs to Apollo’s group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are Earth-crossing space rocks with semimajor axes greater than the Earth’s axis. These asteroids are named after the huge 1862 Apollo asteroid discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.
NASA has also revealed that asteroid 2024 CP4 has passed Earth before. It flew past the planet for the first time on January 25, 1968, at a distance of almost 37 million kilometers. NASA says that after today, this asteroid will come close again on June 5, 2027, passing the planet at a distance of 33 million kilometers.
