Apollo asteroid comes dangerously close to earth: NASA is alarmed

An asteroid the size of Cologne Cathedral is currently hurtling towards earth.

He could get dangerously close to us on Sunday.

NASA has the celestial body in view.

Washington DC - Asteroids are small astronomical bodies.

Again and again they cross the orbit of the earth.

Sometimes they get dangerously close to her in the process.

If such a small body leaves its orbit and collides with our planet, serious damage can occur.

They don't have to take on apocalyptic proportions like the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, but they can nonetheless be dangerous.

That is why NASA observes all celestial bodies that approach Earth.

You can take a closer look at the next five such asteroids on NASA's website.

The "2021 PT" is currently the largest and therefore also the most potentially dangerous.

According to NASA, it measures around 143 meters.

That is not quite as much as the Cologne Cathedral (approx. 160 m) but a lot bigger than the Big Ben in London (96 m).

Giant asteroid sets course for earth: Almost as big as Cologne Cathedral - NASA observes "2021 PT"

The NASA model clearly shows: 2021PT will clearly cross Earth's orbit and be closest to it on August 29, i.e. next Sunday.

However, the currently calculated maximum distance is around 4,908,499 km.

Since the earth's atmosphere is estimated at a maximum of 10,000 km, PT should just fly past us in 2021 - at least at a relative speed of around 26,000 km / h.

Because it comes as close as the asteroid 1862 to Apollo and NASA categorizes it as an “Apollo asteroid”.

If he stays on his previous path and obeys the experts' calculations, he shouldn't pose any great danger.

NASA keeps an eye on him to be on the safe side.