Enormous Asteroid 2002 AJ129 to Fly Near Earth – Is It Hazardous? (Video)
An asteroid 2002 AJ129 will fly near the Earth (within about 2.6 million miles) on February 4. What are the odds of it hitting our planet?
Read Nexter.org to know more.
Asteroid 2002 AJ129
The maximum approach of the asteroid 2002 AJ129 to the Earth will occur on February 4, 2018, at 4:30 p.m. EST. At this point, the speed of the asteroid is 34 kilometers per second.
“Our calculations indicate that asteroid 2002 AJ129 has no chance – zero – of colliding with Earth on Feb. 4 or anytime over the next 100 years,” NASA states.
This asteroid is considered an average size near-Earth asteroid. Although this asteroid is “potentially dangerous”, it won’t be a real threat for us in the near future.
At the moment of maximum approach on February 4, the distance between the asteroid and the Earth will be 4.2 million kilometers, which is 10 times more than the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
An orbital diagram of an asteroid:
Source: Business Insider
How to take a memorable photo
It’s hard to spot an asteroid that is so far away from the Earth. However, various radar observatories have the equipment that is able to take pretty beautiful photos of the hazard.
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