A jumbo jet-sized planet will collide closely with Earth today (Sept. 1), zooming our planet about one-third of the Moon’s average distance.
Asteroid 2011 ES4 will make its closest approach today at 12:12 a.m. EDT (1612 GMT), according to NASA. At that time, it would be about 75,400 miles (121,000 kilometers) from Earth. Because the orbit of an object is not well known, it can pass even closer, at a distance of only 45,400 miles (73,000 km), NASA added.
“Will Asteroid 2011 ES4 hit Earth? No !,” NASA’s Asteroid Watch Outreach Arm Wrote on Twitter. “The approach closer to the 2011 ES4 is ‘close’ to the astronomical scale but does not really threaten to sustain the Earth.”
Asteroids measure either 72 feet by 161 feet in diameter (22 to 49 meters), or about the size of a commercial airliner. During its closest approach, it will travel at a speed of 18,253 miles per hour (29,376 kilometers).
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The asteroid 2011 ES4 was discovered by astronomers using the Mount Lemon Survey at the University of Arizona on March 2, 2011, less than two weeks before the first known flyby of space rock to Earth.
But astronomers were only able to observe the planet for four days before it became very dizzy, and according to EarthSky.org, it was not directly observed. This lack of observation data means that there is some uncertainty when it comes to calculating its exact ball.
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Will #master 2011 ES4 hit the earth? 🌎 No! The approach of the 2011 ES4 is “close” to the astronomical scale but does not really threaten to sustain the Earth. # Planetary defense experts expect it to pass at least 45,000 miles (226,000 foot fields) safely on Tuesday, September 1.August 28, 2020
Although these asteroids have been known to astronomers for nearly a decade, the abundant asteroids flying through Earth cannot be detected until the last minute – or remain unknown until a flyby occurs. For example, two weeks ago the Newfound asteroid made a near miss of the 2020 QG record, and it was not detected six hours later.
Email Hennick Waitering at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @hannekescience. Follow us on Twitter @speed.com and Facebook.
