NASA discovers asteroid is a dead ringer for the Empire State Building

Imagine this hurtling through space. Scientists have discovered an asteroid similar in size to the Empire State Building.

The asteroid, which recently passed Earth, has caught the attention of NASA astronomers for its strange elongated shape. Perhaps hurried past to set the record straight that not all asteroids are vaguely spherical, the space rock is more than three times as long as it is wide.

Scientists estimate the rock’s height to be about 1,600 by 500 feet to give an idea of ​​its size. This is nearly identical to his 100+ story world-famous landmark in New York.

“Of the 1,040 near-Earth objects observed by planetary radars so far, this is the most It is one of the most elongated in the(opens in new tab).

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An asteroid known as 2011 AG5 passed Earth on February 3 at a safe distance of 1.1 million miles, according to the US Space Agency. But that approach gave astronomers the first crack at studying its size, rotation, surface, and silhouette in detail since the object was discovered 12 years ago.

“This is one of the slenderest. [asteroids] we saw ”

The image above is a collage of six photographs of long objects taken by the Goldstone Solar System Radar.(opens in new tab) California antenna dish. There were no signs that King Kong was clinging to the towering rock, but astronomers made a few other observations. It rotates slowly over time.

The asteroid takes about twice as long as Earth to orbit the Sun, according to NASA, and there won’t be a close flyby of the planet until 2040 when it’s within 670,000 miles (670,000 miles). That’s close from a cosmic perspective—the universe is a big place, after all—and yet three times her distance from the Moon to Earth.

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Millions of space rocks orbit the sun. Rocky debris left over from the formation of the solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Most of its ancient remnants are too far away to pose a threat to this planet. Most are in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, but occasionally rocks are pushed into the inner solar system relatively closer to Earth.

There are no known asteroids on a collision course with Earth. But scientists are keeping a close eye on his 30,000 large objects.(opens in new tab) We estimate that there may be 15,000 or more waiting to be discovered. By scanning the skies with powerful telescopes, astronomers discover about 500 new cosmic rocks near Earth’s solar system each year.

“Asteroid impacts are very rare events,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s planetary defense officer, last year. “Once every 100 years, there may be an asteroid that we really worry about and want to shun.”

“Once every 100 years, there may be an asteroid that we really worry about and want to shun.”

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But even small rocks can cause colossal destruction.Asteroid impact about 100-170 feet wide could destroy a small city(opens in new tab), according to NASA. Ten years ago this week, February 15, 2013, an undetected meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia.(opens in new tab), caused a disaster that affected six cities and injured 1,600 people. The rock was only 60 feet in diameter.

Countries are developing warning systems and defense strategies in case an asteroid or comet enters an orbit that could endanger civilization. As a test, NASA will launch a spacecraft known as her DART mission in November 2022 to deliberately crash into a harmless asteroid in deep space in an attempt to alter its trajectory. The $330 million exercise was a success, proving that NASA can stop potentially dangerous space rocks in the future.

Shortly after AG5 was discovered in 2011, some people were concerned(opens in new tab) It could pose a danger to the planet decades down the road. With so little information about its orbit at the time, scientists were unable to accurately estimate its location and reassure people.

Mr. Paul Chodas, Director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Research(opens in new tab) The lab said the asteroid “became a poster child” when early observations showed that it had a slim chance of colliding with Earth in the future.

“Continued observation of this object has ruled out the possibility of a collision,” he said in a statement.(opens in new tab) “And these new ranging measurements by the Planetary Radar team will make our exact positions even more precise far into the future.”