Asteroid a size of an aircraft carrier will be coming closer to the Earth and its closest would be expected to hit this autumn. As it is gradually zooming in, unlike the moon, the scientists hold their breath as they were getting nervous with excitement, not with worry about a possible disaster to take place.
Scientist said, when the asteroid 2005 YU55 makes its close flyby on November 8 people will not be worried because there’s no danger of its impact. The asteroid 2005 YU55 is coming within 201,700 miles (325,000 kilometers) of Earth.
Scientists are looking forward to the encounter, which could help them learn more about big space rocks.
In the past, we did not have the foreknowledge and we don’t have technology to take advantage of the opportunity to observe and study of any object appearing within a lunar distance in the near-Earth objects.
Barbara Wilson, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement. “When it flies past, it should be a great opportunity for science instruments on the ground to get a good look.”
The asteroid 2005 YU55 was discovered since December 2005 by the Spacewatch program at the University of Arizona in Tucson. It is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) wide.
The upcoming encounter between the planet Earth and the asteroid will take place but there is nothing to worry about the cause of the impact, researchers said.
Don Yeomans, manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL said, “there is no threat when YU55 collision over the Earth.”
“During its closest approach the tide would not be affected or anything else in the planet. The gravitational effect on the Earth will be very minimal” Yeomans said.