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Asteroid larger than a bus soars closer to Earth than the Moon in near miss
A HUGE asteroid has just passed so close to our planet that it was closer to us than the Moon.
The "potentially hazardous" space rock is called 2019 SP3 and zoomed past Earth this morning.
Nasa estimated that the asteroid could be up to 33 metres (108 feet) long and classified it as potentially hazardous.
The space agency said: “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth.
"Specifically, all asteroids with a minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of 0.05 au or less are considered PHAs.”
Asteroid 2019 SP3 whizzed past us at over 19,000 miles per hour and missed Earth by around 231,690 miles.
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In the grand scheme of space this isn't a large distance at all, so Nasa has flagged it as a "close approach".
Any fast moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be "potentially hazardous" by cautious space organisations.
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The asteroid was a similar size to the Chelyabinsk meteor, which exploded over Russia back in 2013.
Its impact smashed windows and injured more than 1,000 people.
Experts did not predict the impact, sparking concern that Earth could be surprised with a more devastating incident in the future.
What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
Here's what you need to know, according to Nasa...
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it'll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn't vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth's atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vapourising)
Horror simulation shows 'God of Chaos' asteroid hitting Earth
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In other space news, mysterious Planet X may be a black hole that’s '10 times heavier than Earth but the size of a bowling ball’ on the edge of our Solar System.
Scientists recently discovered a "Super-Earth" 31 light-years away that humans could one day colonise.
And, distant planets may host even more life than we have here on Earth, according to one shock study.
What do you think of this huge space rock? Let us know in the comments...
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