NASA officials have sounded the cosmic alarm today, warning that a 120-foot asteroid—roughly the size of a small airplane—will make a close approach to Earth. But do not worry; despite its relative proximity to our planet, the asteroid 2022 SW3 poses no threat to humanity.
The space rock is one of a group of near-Earth asteroids that will fly by our home in the next few months, and it’s essential to keep an eye on such objects. As a result, NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies keeps a constant watch on the skies, monitoring the orbits of these space rocks and ascertaining that they don’t come too close to our home.
According to its website, the Centre for NEO Studies is “dedicated to the discovery and tracking of near-Earth asteroids and comets.” These asteroids have an orbit that brings them within 120 million miles of the Sun, which puts them near Earth’s orbit. Most of these asteroids won’t ever pass uncomfortably close to our planet, but a small percentage – about 1% – has been dubbed ‘potentially hazardous asteroids.’ Those trajectories require extra attention, as an impact with such a space rock could destroy on a continental scale – equal to the amount of energy released in the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima at the end of World War II.
Asteroid 2022 SW3’s close approach today was detected by scientists at the University of Arizona, who have been working on a system to monitor near-Earth asteroids. The system is based on photometric imaging, which measures an asteroid’s surface brightness as it moves through the atmosphere. This information can then be used to determine its velocity and shape and predict whether it’s likely to impact the planet.
The Centre for NEO Studies is also working on a way to deflect these space rocks, and the world’s first successful test of such an attempt took place earlier this year. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) saw a spacecraft deliberately crash into an asteroid to deflect it from its path toward Earth.
Astronomers worldwide are marking April 13, 2029, on their calendars, as that will be their best chance to spot a massive, airplane-sized asteroid called Apophis as it approaches. The space rock will be visible to sky-watchers across the eastern hemisphere, and it’s thought that even those without optical equipment should be able to see the object as it passes.
Although Apophis does pose a threat, its proximity to the planet is unlikely to be repeated in the next 100 years. And with many asteroids a fraction of its size due to pass by in the future, it’s not time to live out your typical Hollywood doomsday film just yet.
