"Potentially dangerous": high-rise asteroid comes close to Earth on Saturday

At the weekend, an unusual large asteroid rushes past Earth - at least if it goes according to plan. However, NASA warns.

• An asteroid rushes past Earth on Saturday. 
• According to NASA, it is "potentially dangerous" - and quite a chunk. 
• In summer we expect more notable visitors from the depths of space. 

Munich - It will be tight on the weekend - at least in the dimensions of space! The asteroid 163348 (2002 NN4) rushes past our earth . The NASA has already registered him and rated him "potentially dangerous".

The celestial body is a stately chunk. According to the "Center for Near Earth Object Studies", its diameter is calculated up to 570 meters . For comparison: The famous Empire State Building in New York City is only 381 meters high. A collision with the earth would not be desirable. 

Read also:  Asteroid misses Earth very narrowly, but it could be even more dangerous

Space: XL asteroid rushes past the earth - but don't panic

But don't panic! The closest distance between the asteroid and our planet on Saturday will still be around 5.1 million kilometers . This is slightly more than 13 times the distance between the earth and the moon . So there is still a sufficient safety margin - in all probability. The SpaceX astronauts on the ISS may also see the asteroids. When they started on Earth, they confused TV viewers with a mysterious gesture in the space capsule.

A collision would have serious consequences. The meteor, which exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, was estimated to be only 19 meters tall. Nevertheless, thousands of buildings were damaged and around 1,500 people injured. 

Asteroid 'taller than Empire State Building' rocketing towards Earth at 11,200mphhttps: //t.co/NtrHaZQXpB pic.twitter.com/asvyN2G2rb

Asteroids close to Earth: these are the next big visitors from space

It is not uncommon for asteroids to fly past Earth. In June alone, NASA expects 25 asteroids in transit along our planet. The largest celestial body will be 163348 (2002 NN4) - our guest on Saturday. In this respect, it is quite exceptional. 

It was much scarcer than on Saturday when Asteroid 2020 HS7 visited us. In this case, ESA calculated the distance to only 420,000 kilometers. But a collision would have been far less dangerous here. It has a maximum diameter of eight meters. The next larger chunks of rock are expected on June 24 (2010 NY 65, up to 310 meters in diameter) and on July 21 (2002 BF 25, up to 220 meters in diameter) near the earth. Both of them will even rush past us closer than 2002 NN4. 

The asteroid 2009JF1 has headed for Earth and is a potential danger. May 6, 2022 threatens to hit. That would be an absolute disaster. The European Space Agency ESA gives details of a risk list - all asteroids are under observation here.

In any case, we wish all All visitors a good journey! 

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