asteroid
The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs millions of years ago also caused a worldwide tsunami. Pictured: An image mosaic of the asteroid Eros, with sunlight coming from the northeast, taken by the robotic NEAR Shoemaker space probe March 3, 2000 from a distance of 204 kilometers, or 127 miles. After a year of circling and taking pictures, NEAR will touch down on asteroid Eros February 12, 2001, to capture surface details, which will be the first time any craft has tried to land on a tumbling space rock. Getty Images/NASA/Newsmakers

NASA’s asteroid tracker has detected a space rock that’s currently headed towards Earth. According to the space agency’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the asteroid is approaching Earth at a speed of almost 24,000 miles per hour.

The approaching asteroid has been identified by CNEOS as 2019 TA7. According to the agency, this asteroid has an estimated diameter of about 111 feet. It is currently moving across space with a speed of 23,700 miles per hour.

2019 TA7 has been classified by CNEOS as an Aten asteroid. Like other Aten asteroids, 2019 TA7 orbits around the Sun. Occasionally, its orbit intersects with that of Earth as it reaches its farthest point from the giant star.

If the asteroid ends up hitting Earth, it will most likely burn up in the atmosphere and explode in the sky due to its small size. However, this does not automatically mean that 2019 TA7 is completely harmless. After all, it’s almost twice as big as the asteroid that detonated over Russia in 2013.

During that incident, an asteroid that was about 66 feet wide exploded in the atmosphere and released energy that was equivalent to around 30 atomic bombs. Although the blast was absorbed by the atmosphere, it was still powerful enough to cause significant damage on the ground.

According to reports, around 7,000 buildings were damaged during the event while about 1,500 sustained injuries.

Fortunately, CNEOS noted that the asteroid will miss Earth during its approach. It is expected to fly past Earth on Oct. 14 at 6:53 p.m. EDT. During this time, the asteroid will be about 0.01006 astronomical units or roughly 935,000 miles from the planet’s center.

According to CNEOS’ database, 2019 TA7 frequently visits Earth, Venus and Mercury. The last time it entered Earth’s neighborhood was on June 6. During this time, it approached the planet from a distance of 0.44360 astronomical units or about 41 million miles away.

The asteroid’s next near-Earth approach is expected to happen on Oct. 14, 2021 after it passes by Mercury. The asteroid will approach Earth from a distance of 0.15753 astronomical units or about 14 million miles away.

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