With Elon Musk trying to get to Mars, the interest in Space travel has grown quite a bit. However, there is much more to outer space than visiting the other planets in our solar system. For example, thousands of asteroids pass by Earth, and scientists have to figure out if and when they will collide with Earth and what the impact will be. Earlier this week, a smaller asteroid came into our atmosphere, and later today, a giant asteroid will pass by the Earth as well! Keep on reading and discover everything about what is happening around our globe!
27-Inch “Space Rock” Burns Up In Our Atmosphere!
Earlier this week, a small asteroid with a diameter of 27 inches was en route to collide with Earth. The space rock was temporarily named C0WEPC5 as it doesn’t exist anymore. The European Space Agency was aware of this and said that the impact would be harmless, but people would be able to see it.
The small asteroid caused a giant fireball in the sky, and it has been reported that people were actually able to see it. However, to have witnessed it, you would have to be in Yakutia, Northeastern Siberia! However, X user RED Line collected some of the videos that people were able to take so we could witness them as well. Check the post below!
Another asteroid is “Skimming” past Earth
The small asteroid is not the only asteroid that comes “close” to Earth. A different asteroid, 2020XR, will fly by Earth later this week, on December 4th at 12.27 am E.T. Luckily for us, the asteroid will not come close. It will pass our planet with 1,37 million miles between us and won’t pose an actual threat to life on Earth. However, NASA will consider anything that passes Earth with a distance of less than 4,6 million miles a potential hazard. We’re lucky that this asteroid is “just passing by” as its diameter is nearly 1200 feet, making it nearly big enough to fit an Empire State Building into it!
