NASA detects a huge asteroid heading towards Earth at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour

NASA has announced the discovery of a huge asteroid that is estimated to be the size of 90 elephants or 150 meters in diameter. The asteroid, named 2023 QL1, is currently speeding towards Earth at a velocity of 18 kilometers per second.

However, there is no need to panic, as the space agency assures that the asteroid poses no threat to our planet.

According to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), 2023 QL1 will make its closest approach to Earth on April 15, 2023, at a distance of about 4.6 million kilometers. That is more than 12 times the distance between Earth and the Moon, which is about 384,000 kilometers.

Therefore, the asteroid will not have any impact on Earth’s gravity, climate, or tides. 2023 QL1 belongs to a class of asteroids known as Apollo asteroids, which are asteroids that have orbits that cross Earth’s orbit.

There are more than 10,000 known Apollo asteroids, and some of them are classified as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), which are asteroids that have a minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of less than 0.05 astronomical units (AU) or 7.5 million kilometers from Earth’s orbit and a diameter of more than 140 meters.

However, 2023 QL1 is not a PHA, as its MOID is 0.03 AU or 4.5 million kilometers from Earth’s orbit.

Moreover, NASA monitors and tracks all known PHAs using its Near-Earth Object Observations Program (NEOO), which uses ground-based telescopes and radar systems to detect and characterize these objects.

The program also studies the origin, evolution, and future trajectories of these objects.

NASA states that no known PHA poses any significant risk of impact with Earth over the next 100 years. However, the space agency also acknowledges that there may be some undiscovered PHAs that could pose a threat in the future. Therefore, NASA continues to search for and study these objects to improve its understanding and preparedness for any potential impact scenarios.

If you are interested in learning more about asteroids and other near-Earth objects, you can visit NASA’s website at https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/overview or follow its social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook.