NASA Announces Close Encounter with Asteroid 2023 TT8
NASA has a multitude of advanced telescopes and observatories, such as NEOWISE, ALMA, Pans-STARRS1, and Catalina Sky Survey, to monitor and investigate the numerous asteroids found in space. These celestial bodies, which are primarily located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, have reached a count of 1,298,148. The purpose of these instruments is to gain a better understanding of asteroids and eliminate any uncertainties regarding their potential proximity to Earth.
In a new development, NASA has revealed that an asteroid is expected to make its closest approach to Earth today. Know all about it.
Asteroid 2023 TT8 details
The asteroid named Asteroid 2023 TT8 is already on its way to Earth and is traveling at an amazing speed of 28,525 kilometers per hour in an orbit around the Sun. NASA expects this asteroid to make its closest approach to Earth today, October 16, passing at a distance of nearly 2.2 million kilometers.
Although this asteroid is passing close by, it is not large enough to cause panic. According to NASA, the asteroid is between 42 and 90 feet wide. However, if it hits the ground, it can still cause some damage. In 2013, a similar 59-foot asteroid exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, damaging 7,000 buildings and injuring more than 1,000 people.
This space rock belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are space rocks that pass through the Earth and whose semi-major axes are larger than the Earth’s axis. These asteroids are named after the huge 1862 Apollo asteroid discovered by German astronomer Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth in the 1930s.
Shockingly, although it has passed by Earth before, this is the first close approach in history for Asteroid 2023 TT8. According to details provided by NASA’s Small-Body Database Lookup, it will not pass the planet again in the near future.
NASA’s Psyche mission
The Psyche mission, which launched on October 13, is part of NASA’s Discovery missions. NASA is studying an asteroid called 16 Psyche, which currently orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. One of the most amazing facts about this asteroid is that it consists of deposits of gold, silver and nickel, making it rich in metals. According to NASA, it could be worth more than the Earth’s economy combined. It’s worth a whopping $10 quadrillion!
In addition to its gold-rich structure, this asteroid’s outer surface is rich in nickel, resembling the core of an early planet. The spacecraft will orbit the asteroid for 21 months to map the asteroid and learn about its structure, as well as learn about the formation of metal-core asteroids and planets.
This is an important step in studying the formation of the Earth itself.
