Asteroid Approaching Earth: No Need for Alarm
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An asteroid, potentially capable of catastrophic destruction, is expected to pass close to Earth next week. The object,
2026JH2, will come within an estimated 90,917 kilometers — merely a quarter of the distance to the Moon.
“In astronomical terms, that’s about the closest approach you can have without a collision,” states
Dr. Mark Norris from the University of Lancashire, UK.
Only five known asteroids will traverse within the Moon’s orbit this year, and 2026JH2 is among the closest.
Discovered recently by the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona and the Far Point Observatory in Kansas, 2026JH2 will make its
closest approach at 9 p.m. on May 18th (UTC). Dr. Norris notes that visibility may be challenging even for Southern Hemisphere
astronomers, as the asteroid is brief in sight from the North and moves at a pace of 9.17 kilometers per second, similar to a
satellite’s speed across the sky.
With an estimated diameter between 16 and 36 meters, data from Solmano Observatory
suggests that a collision could bring city-level destruction, according to Dr. Norris.
Astronomers believe that they have tracked nearly all asteroids larger than 1 kilometer in our solar system. Advances in observation
methods are expanding the database to include smaller objects. However, asteroids like 2026JH2 remain difficult to detect.
As noted by Dr. Mark Burchell from the University of
Kent, UK, “light reflection is minimal.”
Should 2026JH2 strike Earth, it could result in an event akin to the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteorite, possessing around 30 times the
kinetic energy unleashed by the Hiroshima bomb, warns the head of the European Space Agency’s Planetary Defense Directorate,
Richard Moisle.
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Source: www.newscientist.com
