From time to time, numerous asteroids or meteorites pass close to our planet. Depending on their size, they can be more or less dangerous; some of them have had a risk of impact on Earth due to their proximity; although fortunately, all these approaches have remained only anecdotes to document and have not happened again.
Among those approaches is the asteroid named 2006 HV5, which according to NASA, is a “potentially dangerous” asteroid and is expected to approach the Earth today, April 26th. With a size of 457 meters in diameter, it is almost twice the Eiffel Tower in France.
According to experts, the asteroid will pass 2 million 420 thousand kilometers from Earth, which means that it will be at a distance of approximately six times the average separation between the Earth and the Moon. Although it may be seen in very distant numbers from Earth, NASA classifies as “potentially dangerous” all asteroids and stellar objects that measure more than 150 meters and/or are within a distance of 7.5 million kilometers or 19.5 times the distance to the Moon.
Bon, les gens, on arrête d'écrire qu'un astéroïde "dangereux" va "frôler" la terre ? 2006 HV5 passera à 2,4 millions de km, soit 6,4 fois la distance de la Terre à la Lune… ça laisse une certaine marge #espace pic.twitter.com/cN6OBqUVPG
— Michel De Muelenaere (@MdM_LeSoir) April 26, 2023
Other Asteroids Will Also Approach the Earth These Days
NASA also reported four other stellar objects that will approach the Earth this April 26, but of much smaller proportion, which has a diameter ranging between 16 and 37 meters, about the size of a house or an airplane. On April 27, the asteroid 2023HU4, approximately 18 meters, is also expected to approach the Earth at a distance of 528 thousand kilometers. All of them are not cataloged as dangerous for the Earth, but they are closely followed in case they have, at some point, a change in their trajectory, which although it is not common to happen, at some point it could happen.
Asteroids are relatively small bodies, although sometimes they can reach enormous dimensions, orbiting the Sun. They are usually composed of rocky materials and various minerals. According to NASA, most asteroids are found within the main asteroid belt, which lies within the orbits of Mars and Jupiter; some of these asteroids continue on their way into the Solar System, including those that are close to Earth, while others remain outside the orbit of Neptune.
Story written in Spanish by Lizbeth García in Cultura Colectiva News