Asteroid 2023 XH7 belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs), says NASA. (Pixabay)

NASA reveals details of close encounter as bus-sized asteroid narrowly passes Earth

Nitin MisraDecember 13, 23 asteroids, NASA

Yesterday, Earth had a close encounter with four asteroids that passed by the planet due to their orbits. The most significant one, known as Asteroid 2023 XO1, was identified by NASA using their advanced telescopes like NEOWISE, ALMA, Pans-STARRS1, and Catalina Sky Survey. Thanks to these cutting-edge technologies, NASA has now detected another asteroid, named Asteroid 2023 XH7, which is predicted to come close to Earth today, December 13. Find out more about this near encounter with Asteroid 2023 XH7.

Asteroid 2023 XH7: Close approach data

According to details revealed by NASA’s CNEOS (Center for Near-Earth Object Studies), asteroid 2023 XH7 is expected to pass Earth at a distance of only 940,148 kilometers. It is already orbiting the earth at a speed of 71276 kilometers per hour, which is almost as fast as the space shuttle!

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 Reinmuth in the 1930s.

According to NASA, asteroid 2023 XH7 has passed Earth before and this is not its first close approach. This asteroid passed the Earth for the first time on July 5, 2020 at a distance of about 9.7 million kilometers. After today, it will come close to Earth again on July 22, 2033, at a distance of 63 million kilometers.

NASA says this asteroid poses no threat to Earth due to its relatively small size. At just 34 feet wide, Asteroid 2023 XH7 is only about the size of a bus. On the other hand, asteroids larger than 492 feet and passing Earth closer than 7.5 million kilometers are classified as “potentially hazardous objects”.

How does NASA track an asteroid?

As NASA telescopes such as the NEOWISE telescope, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Pans-STARRS1, and the Catalina Sky Survey track a new Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA), astronomers measure and report the asteroid’s observed positions in the sky. 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.