Asteroid skimmed past Earth and no one saw it coming
An asteroid is seen heading towards the planet in this artistic rendition.
(photo credit: PIXABAY)
Asteroid skimmed past Earth and no one saw it coming
2021 UA1 was about the size of a golf cart and flew just 3,000 km. away from the planet — Far closer than the Moon, as well as most communications satellites. Why did no one see it coming?
An asteroid skimmed past the Earth last week at just 3,000 kilometers away from the planet’s surface, but no one noticed until after the fact, as noted by NASA data.
Dubbed 2021 UA1, the asteroid, which skimmed by Antarctica last Sunday, was very small — Only around 2 meters in diameter, which is roughly the size of a golf cart. As such, it is unlikely it would have actually done any damage if it impacted the planet, as it would likely have burnt up in the atmosphere.
But while the damage it could have caused should it have impacted was minimal, the true danger is that an asteroid came so close to the planet and nobody noticed until after the fact.
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