Giant asteroid flies closest to Earth ever

2020 XR, a giant meteorite moving at a speed of about 44,300 km/h, approaching the closest distance to Earth of 2.2 million km at 0:27 on December 4 US time (11:27 on the same day and time in Hanoi), according to the Department NASA’s jet propulsion experiment (JPL). Its flight will be livestreamed by the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP).

NASA classifies 2020 XR as a near-Earth object (NEO), meaning its orbit sometimes puts it within 1.3 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun, or 1.3 times the distance. average between the Earth and the Sun. Any NEO flying closer to Earth than 7,500,000 km and with a diameter greater than 150 m is considered a “potential threat”. However, the close flyby on December 4 of 2020 XR did not threaten the Earth.

“When astronomers first detected 2020 XR, they thought it had a small chance of colliding with Earth in 2028,” said Juan Luis Cano, an expert at the Center for Near-Earth Object Coordination of the United States. European Space Agency (ESA), said. “But by looking for this asteroid in older data, they were able to determine its flight path more clearly and rule out any risk.”

Asteroid 2020 XR has a diameter of 366 m, large enough to wipe out a small city. The last time it flew close to Earth was December 1977. However, at that time, the smallest distance between it and Earth was 16 million km, much larger than today.

Experts predict 2020 XR will not fly so close to Earth again at least until 2196. The next time 2020 XR flies past Earth will be November 2028 at an estimated distance of 18.2 million km.