Potentially hazardous asteroid as big as the Eiffel tower will safely pass by Earth on 1 June- Technology News, Firstpost

FP TrendingMay 31, 2021 17:21:25 IST

The US space agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has warned that an asteroid, as big as the Paris’ Eiffel Tower, could shoot past Earth in June. According to a report in The Newsweek, the asteroid named 2021 KT1 has been classified as ‘potentially hazardous’ by NASA. The report mentions that the diameter of the 2021 KT1 asteroid is between 149.9m to 329.7 m (492 feet and 1,082 feet).

An asteroid that is larger than 500 feet and is within 4.6 million miles of Earth is considered potentially hazardous. Image credit: Pixabay

Other smaller asteroids have also approached Earth recently and will continue to do so in the coming months, however, an asteroid that is larger than 500 feet and is within 4.6 million miles of Earth is considered potentially hazardous. The 2021 KT1 asteroid is going to come within 4.5 million miles of our planet at 7:54 pm IST (10:24 am EDT) on Tuesday, 1 June. The distance between Earth and the asteroid is 19 times the Earth’s distance to the moon.

The asteroid is travelling at the speed of 40,000 mph. As per the space agency, it is going to pass by Earth safely.

There is another smaller asteroid — 2018 LB — that will also approach Earth on 1 June. It is only 21 metres in length and will come within 1,116,885 KM of the planet, reported WUSA 9. It is the approximate size of an airplane.

Asteroids 2021 KN2 and 2021 KS are approaching Earth on 31 May, however, they are 21 feet and 59 feet in size, respectively.

2021 KS is 18 m and will approach Earth at a distance of 5,954,573 KM. It is the size of a house.

2021 KN2 is 6 meter and will approach Earth at a distance of 144,519 KM. It is the size of a bus.