NASA Asteroid 2019: 144-Foot NEO Flies By Earth On Tuesday

An asteroid rapidly moving towards Earth has been detected by NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS.) Based on the size of the approaching asteroid, there’s a chance it might explode in the air if it ends up hitting Earth.

The incoming asteroid has been identified by CNEOS as 2019 SR8. According to the agency, this asteroid has an estimated diameter of about 144 feet. This makes it about half as tall as the Statue of Liberty. CNEOS noted that the asteroid is currently approaching Earth at an average speed of almost 22,000 miles per hour.

CNEOS classified 2019 SR8 as an Apollo asteroid, which means it orbits around Earth and the Sun. From time to time, the asteroid’s orbit intersects with that of the Earth as the planet goes around the massive star.

Aside from Earth, Apollo asteroids also fly past other planets in the Solar System such as Mercury and Venus during their voyage. Whenever asteroids get too close to these planets, they can get affected by their gravitational pull, which can then alter their trajectory.

If 2019 SR8’s trajectory changes, it could end up colliding with Earth during its next near-intersection with the planet’s orbit. Since 2019 SR8 is not that big, it will most likely detonate mid-air instead of hitting the ground if this happens.

However, even though it won’t cause an impact event, 2019 SR8 can still cause significant damage on the ground. As previous reports have shown, mid-air explosions caused by asteroids are known to produce high levels of energy.

For instance, the 66-foot asteroid that exploded over Russia in 2013 generated energy equivalent to about 30 atomic bombs. Although the energy from the explosion was released in the atmosphere, the incident still damaged around 7,000 buildings on the ground and injured over 1,000 people.

Fortunately, it seems 2019 SR8 will completely miss Earth during its upcoming approach. According to CNEOS, the asteroid is expected to fly past Earth on Oct. 15 at 11:45 pm EDT. During this time, will be about 0.03467 astronomical units or roughly 3.2 million miles from the planet’s center.