NASA confirmed that a gigantic asteroid named 2002 AJ129 which is as big as the size of Burj Khalifa, is speeding towards Earth at a speed of 67,000mph. On February 4, it is due to brush past the Earth. The 0.7 miles wide asteroid is wider than Burj Khalifa, which stands 0.5 miles high (0.8km).
As stated by NASA, the asteroid will be 2,615,128 miles (4,208,641km) away (which is relatively close in space terms) from Earth, thus making no impact while it passes by this planet. But still, it is referred to as a ‘potentially hazardous asteroid by NASA as it is 500 feet across and carries an orbital path within about 4,650,000 miles of Earth. Though the asteroid is not going to make an impression but scientists are going to keep an eye on the rock with the Goldstone Radio Telescope in California.
This is the largest rock that the world is going to witness this year. There’s a whole lot of characteristics that the scientist would want to learn about the asteroid, their size, shape, how quickly they rotate, how they look like from inside and the other whereabouts.
“We can actually learn a great deal about objects and start to answer some of these questions using radar observation” – Lance Benner, a NASA astronomer who studies passing asteroids, told to Newsweek.
If the asteroid crashed on Earth, which is not expected, then the planet could go through a mini-ice age of its hit. There would be a severe impact on the average temperature which would fall by 8 degree Celsius, according to the 2016 study. Scientists apprised that the impact would be globally severe which would last for several years, that would contribute to making the world much darker, colder and drier place to live in. The worst would be that its soot would remain in the atmosphere for around 10 years as dust take around six years to settle down on Earth.
Fortunately, NASA announced that the rock will not collide with the planet.