NASA Asteroid Tracker: Tiny NEO Will Skim Earth On Wednesday Evening

NASA has detected an asteroid that will approach Earth on Wednesday. Based on the asteroid’s size, it will most likely explode in the air if it breaches Earth’s atmosphere.

The approaching asteroid has been identified by NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) as 2019 RX2. According to the agency’s database, this asteroid is currently traveling at a speed of almost 12,000 miles per hour.

CNEOS estimated that the asteroid has a diameter of around 39 feet. Due to its small size, 2019 RX2 will probably not hit the surface if it collides with Earth. Instead, the asteroid will explode mid-air shortly after entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

This, however, does not automatically mean that 2019 RX2 is not a dangerous asteroid. Back in 2013, an asteroid that was about 66 feet long breached Earth’s atmosphere and exploded over the Chelyabinsk Oblast region in Russia.

The explosion caused by the asteroid released energy that was equivalent to 500 kilotons of TNT, which is 33 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in World War II.

Although the bulk of the explosion was absorbed by Earth’s atmosphere, it was still powerful enough to cause ground-level damage. According to reports, the blast from the asteroid damaged over 7,000 buildings across six cities and injured about 1,500 people.

Fortunately, it seems 2019 RX2 will completely miss Earth during its flyby. CNEOS reported that the asteroid will approach Earth on Sept. 11 at 11:19 pm EDT. During this time, the asteroid will be about 0.01848 astronomical units or roughly 1.7 million miles from the planet’s center.

CNEOS classified 2019 RX2 as an Apollo asteroid. Like other asteroids from this family, 2019 RX2 has a very wide orbit around the Earth and the Sun. Occasionally, the asteroid’s orbit intersects with that of Earth as it travels around the massive star.

2019 RX2 was first observed on Sept. 6. According to CNEOS’ data, the asteroid is known to visit the neighborhoods of Earth and Mars.

The asteroid’s next near-Earth approach is expected to happen on Nov. 30, 2024. During this time, the asteroid will pass by Earth from a distance of 0.42850 astronomical unis or almost 40 million miles away.