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- An asteroid passed Earth early this morning at such a short distance that it was closer to the surface than many satellites.
- The space rock passed our planet at a distance of 13,000 miles or so, which is a very close error when it comes to space.
- If the rock had entered Earth’s atmosphere, it would likely have been destroyed by our atmosphere before reaching the ground.
Congratulations to all! We did it! Thanks to everyone’s hard work and determination, today we avoid an asteroid collision. Just kidding, of course, the asteroid named 2020 SW wasn’t going to hit us anyway, but it happened at a very close distance. The space rock, which NASA describes as the size of a school bus, passed only 13,000 miles from Earth.
To put that in perspective, Earth’s Moon is, on average, about 240,000 miles away. So 13,000 miles is almost an accident by comparison. The good news is that even if the asteroid did enter Earth’s atmosphere, it will almost certainly be completely destroyed in the process. In short, we were never really in danger.
Perhaps the most interesting (and perhaps the only worrying) thing about the asteroid is that it was just discovered on September 18. The Catalina Sky Survey detected the asteroid a week ago and astronomers were able to focus on it and track its trajectory with a high degree of certainty.
Most of the space rocks that NASA and other space agencies detect don’t come as close as this one. In fact, just 13,000 miles away, it passed within the range of geostationary satellites orbiting at an altitude of about 22,000 miles. That sounds a bit scary, but NASA says it’s pretty routine.
“There are a lot of tiny asteroids like this one, and several of them come as close to our planet as this several times a year,” Paul Chodas of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies said in a statement. “In fact, asteroids of this size impact our atmosphere at an average rate of about once a year or two.”
When they get close enough to impact our atmosphere, the intense friction generally breaks rocks into much smaller pieces and incinerates them. In rare cases, if a rock is especially large or the conditions are right, it can remain intact and sometimes explode in the sky just before hitting the ground.
That scenario is what is believed to have happened in Russia’s Chelyabinsk region in early 2013. The space rock was roughly 20 meters in diameter and when it detonated the sky it sent a shock wave that caused severe damage to homes and other structures. It was estimated that 1,500 people were seriously injured, but not from the explosion of the meteorite itself. Those who were injured in the blast were injured by glass that flew from broken windows and other debris.
Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering the latest news and trends in virtual reality, wearable devices, smartphones, and future technology. Most recently, Mike served as a technology editor at The Daily Dot and has been featured in USA Today, Time.com, and many other print and web media. His love of reporting is second only to his addiction to games.
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