UNITED STATES: We always get goosebumps when we hear about an asteroid passing by the Earth. Another enormous space rock promptly follows the thought of it as the only thing that may be more frightening than a close encounter with one.
According to recent reports, Earthdweller’s should prepare for not one but two close asteroids approach. NASA reports that on Friday, July 29, the asteroid 2016 CZ31 will make a “close approach,” and on Saturday, the asteroid 531944 (2013 CU83) (July 30).
According to data from NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) database, the 721-foot-wide 2016 CZ31 will pass by Earth at 11:02 pm UTC on Friday at a distance of no closer than 1.7 million miles (about 2.7 million kilometers).
To be clear, 2016 CZ31 will pass by us at a distance that is roughly seven times that of the average distance between the Earth and the Moon. And even though it may seem like a great distance, it is essentially a little one in the context of the solar system scale.
The 2016 CZ31 is anticipated to fly by us at over 34,000 mph (55,000 kph), more than seventeen times the speed of a rifle bullet and about one-fifth the speed of lightning.
The second asteroid, bigger than the former is 2013 CU83, is about 1050 feet in diameter. At 11:37 UTC on Saturday, it will most likely pass Earth at a distance of approximately 4.3 million miles (6.9 million kilometers) (5:07 am IST on Sunday). Compared to 2016 CZ3, the asteroid will move more slowly, at 13,100 miles per hour (21,082 kph).
But don’t worry; fortunately, there is almost no chance that either of these space asteroids will hit Earth. Asteroids, sometimes known as minor planets, are rocky, airless debris from the early stages of the solar system’s creation, which occurred around 4.6 billion years ago. As of this date, 1,113,527 asteroids are known, according to NASA.
Also Read: NASA Finds an Astonishing Fact About This Asteroid
