On the evening of March 16, 2023, asteroid 2023 EY passed 239,800 km from the Earth’s surface, or 62% of the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
2023 EY is one of the rare asteroids that flies closer to Earth than to the Moon.
2023 EY is one of the rare asteroids that flies closer to Earth than to the Moon. (Photo: knows)
Astronomer Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project said 2023 EY’s very close cosmic distance to Earth means large ground-based telescopes can image passing celestial objects, but depending on the current flight path, there is no risk of colliding with the planeth, theo Space.
2023 EY has an estimated diameter between 13 and 29 mequivalent to the Chelyabinsk meteorite (17 – 20 m), flew over the city of the same name in Russia on the morning of February 15, 2013, creating a shock wave that broke the windows of thousands of buildings and injured 1,500 people. To date, 2023 EY is one of 14 asteroids flying closer to Earth than the Moon.
Asteroid 2023 EY was first discovered a few days ago, on March 13, thanks to Asteroid Land Impact Final Warning System (ATLAS) Funded by NASA and managed by the University of Hawaii. ATLAS is the first system capable of scanning the entire sky every 24 hours, allowing astronomers to identify and classify near-Earth objects such as asteroids.
The survey system includes four telescopes capable of scanning an area of the sky 100 times larger than the full moon, according to NASA. Two telescopes are located in Hawaii, the other two are located in South Africa and Chile. To date, ATLAS has discovered 700 near-Earth asteroids.
“We haven’t found any major asteroid threats, but we will continue to search for this group of large objects. Our goal is to predict potential collisions years or more in advance.” Lindley Johnson, planetary defense expert at NASA Headquarters, agreed.
Article source: VnExpress
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On the evening of March 16, 2023, asteroid 2023 EY passed 239,800 km from the Earth’s surface, or 62% of the average distance between the Earth and the Moon.
