According to details issued by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, an asteroid has been designated as Asteroid 2024 BM. The asteroid is most likely to pass Earth at a distance of approximately 3 million kilometers today, January 22. The asteroid is already travelling toward Earth in its orbit at 21511 kilometers per hour, equivalent to the speed of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. The question that arises is if the asteroid is dangerous. Here’s what NASA says about it.
Asteroid 2024 BM
This particular space rock belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are Earth-crossing space rocks with semi-major axes larger than Earth’s. These asteroids are named after the enormous 1862 Apollo asteroid which German astronomer Karl Reinmuth discovered in the 1930s.
NASA says that this is not the first time that Asteroid 2024 BM has entered the proximity of Earth. It has earlier passed Earth on December 5, 1900, at a distance of approximately 23 million kilometers. After today, it is set to approach the planet at a distance of 9.7 kilometers on May 2, 2039.
How big is the Ateroid 2024 BM?
The asteroid that is approaching Earth is least likely to crash and cannot be classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object due to its size, according to NASA. It is approximately 150 feet wide, making it as big as an aircraft. The width of Asteroid 2024 BM is 45 feet which is almost the size of a house, NASA pointed out.
How do asteroids impact a planet?
The main asteroid belt, situated between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, is where asteroids are commonly found in our solar system. According to NASA, these space rocks affect Earth due to interaction with a large planet’s gravitational field. This sends the asteroids towards a planet which causes a potential impact scenario.