An asteroid, large enough to level a city, quietly travelled from between Earth's and the Moon's orbits, narrowly missing both bodies. Space rock 2023 DZ2 was identified a month ago by experts.
Saturday, the asteroid crossed the orbit of the Moon and sailed by Earth at a distance of 175,000 kilometres, just as scientists had expected.
It's unusual for such a large asteroid (estimated to be between 40 and 90 m in diameter) to approach Earth at such a close range. Astronomers have said that this phenomenon only occurs once per decade.
At a time when another space rock was found with the potential to harm Earth, NASA says the event provided an important chance for scientists and astronomers to increase their understanding of asteroids.
European Space Agency planetary defence head Richard Moissl reassures the public that the globe is safe from this "city killer," saying instead that the asteroid's near approach presents a fantastic opportunity for observations.
Moissl also noted that 2023 DZ2 was "a scientifically fascinating item" based on the available early data. But, he cautioned that further information was required to identify the asteroid's make-up.
The asteroid's near proximity to Earth made it visible to observers using even modest instruments.
The Planetary Science Division at NASA's headquarters in Washington, DC, maintains a Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO). The PDCO is responsible for detecting PHOS as soon as feasible. Comets and asteroids in the PHOS category have orbits that bring them near 0.05 astronomical units of Earth (5 million miles or 8 million kilometres).
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NASA's recently completed DART mission was meant to protect against precisely these kind of space-based assaults. Dart was NASA's attempt to see whether it was possible to deflect an asteroid. We made a tremendous step forward in the worldwide effort to develop solutions that would enable us to avoid any massive rock from ever reaching the earth with the successful completion of this test.
The DART weighted 570 kg, which is quite a lot of weight. While DART was designed to kill the asteroid, that was not its primary purpose. NASA reports that the DART mission was successful in diverting the asteroid.
(With inputs from Agencies)
