NASA Detects 100-Foot Asteroid Approaching, Zipping Past Earth On Tuesday

NASA’s asteroid tracking system is currently monitoring a building-sized near-Earth object that will approach and fly past the planet soon. According to the data collected by the agency, the asteroid will intersect Earth’s orbit during its upcoming visit.

The approaching asteroid is currently in the database of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). The space rock, known as 2020 JP2, has an estimated diameter of about 102 feet. According to CNEOS, the asteroid is currently moving across the Solar System towards Earth at a speed of over 19,000 miles per hour.

2020 JP2 was first observed on May 13. After studying its trajectory, NASA was able to create an orbit diagram showing the asteroid’s path. As indicated in the diagram, 2020 JP2 follows a wide orbit within the Solar System.

As the asteroid travels around the Sun, it often reaches the plane between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Occasionally, the asteroid intersects Earth’s path as the planet goes around the Sun.

Despite its Earth-crossing orbit, 2020 JP2 does not pose a threat to Earth. Aside from the fact that it won’t collide with the planet during its upcoming approach, the asteroid is not big enough to cause a major impact event on Earth.

If the asteroid ends up hitting the planet, it would most likely burn up in the atmosphere and explode mid-air. Although the energy that would be released by the asteroid’s airburst would be equivalent to several atomic bombs, the explosion will happen at an altitude that’s too high to severely affect structures and people on the ground.

Although mid-air explosions by asteroids can still be dangerous due to the amount of energy that they produce, they are still far more harmless than a direct impact event on Earth.

According to CNEOS, 2020 JP2 is not in danger of colliding with Earth during its upcoming flyby, which is expected to happen on Tuesday (May 26) at 7:13 p.m. EDT. During this time, the asteroid will fly past Earth from a distance of 0.02969 astronomical units or about 2.8 million miles away.

2020 JP2 is not expected to return to Earth’s vicinity until April 21, 2196. As noted by NASA, the asteroid will approach Earth from 0.28194 or 26 million miles away during its future visit.