US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — An asteroid, half the height of Mount Everest, will follow Earth at the end of April. The space object, called OR2, moves around the Sun and has dimensions of up to 4.1 km in diameter.
A celestial body will fly past our planet along a trajectory that is officially defined as “approaching the Earth.”
According to NASA, on April 29, 2020, the potentially dangerous asteroid OR2 will pass close, but be safe from the earth. It will be separated from us by a distance of about 6.3 million km.
Due to its size, the asteroid will be quite clearly distinguishable even for simple telescopes.
Being in the orbit of the Sun, asteroids can sometimes approach the Earth. Although OR2 poses no threat to humanity, its passage is a reminder of the potential dangers lurking in space.
NASA astronomers believe that any celestial body over 1 km is large enough to cause global damage in a collision. Such catastrophic events are very rare and occur once every few million years.
Currently, NASA does not name a single asteroid or comet that could collide with our planet.
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