A potentially hazardous asteroid is approaching Earth

Next Monday, August 10, at 00:20 UTC, asteroid 2019 NY2 will pass by Earth. According to calculations by the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, the diameter of the celestial body may reach 330 m.

This is reported by RMF24.

Although the object is officially classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA), experts are quick to reassure the public. There is no real threat of a collision with our planet. Asteroids receive this status if their orbits come closer than 7.5 million km to Earth's orbit. In this case, it will pass Earth at a distance of approximately 2.5 million km, which is 6.5 times the distance to the Moon.

Nevertheless, this approach will be the closest in the last 150 years of observations of the object. Asteroid 2019 NY2 belongs to the Apollo group, and its orbital period is about 2.3 years. The flyby was planned to be a unique opportunity for detailed radar scanning using NASA's largest antennas; however, due to technical limitations, the observations had to be canceled.