NASA Spots Earth-Crossing Asteroid Approaching Earth This Week

NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) is currently monitoring a massive asteroid that will visit Earth’s neighborhood this week. According to the agency, the approaching asteroid follows a natural orbit that intersects Earth’s path.

The incoming asteroid was identified as 2018 GY. As indicated in CNEOS’ database, this asteroid is currently traveling across the Solar System and moving toward Earth at an average speed of over 21,000 miles per hour.

CNEOS estimated that the asteroid measures about 213 feet wide, which makes it significantly larger than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.

According to NASA, 2018 GY is an Aten asteroid. As shown in the asteroid’s orbit diagram, the space rock’s trajectory mainly extends beyond the orbits of Mercury, Venus and Earth. During the course of its travels around the Sun, 2018 GY is known to cross Earth’s orbit twice.

2018 GY’s Earth-crossing orbit means it could hit the planet if its trajectory slightly changes. Although it has a massive estimated diameter, the asteroid is not moving fast enough to penetrate Earth’s atmosphere. This means that during a collision, 2018 GY would most likely break apart and explode in the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, an airburst caused by a 213-foot asteroid could still be very dangerous since the energy from the blast could be equivalent to multiple atomic bombs. Depending on the altitude of the explosion, the blast could still cause significant damage to structures on the ground.

According to CNEOS, 2018 GY will intersect Earth’s orbit on March 15 at 8:29 a.m. EST. The asteroid is expected to be about 0.01594 astronomical units away from the planet’s center during its approach. This is equivalent to around 1.5 million miles away.

The last time 2018 GY was in Earth’s vicinity was on March 26, 2018. During that time, the asteroid approached Earth from a much farther distance. According to NASA, the asteroid flew past Earth from a distance of 0.07034 astronomical units or around 6.5 million miles away.

2018 GY is not expected to return to Earth’s neighborhood until March 12, 2022. NASA predicted that the asteroid would cross Earth’s path from a distance of 0.04619 astronomical units or roughly 4.3 million miles away.