Asteroid the size of a blue whale approaches Earth

Simulate asteroid flying close to Earth. (Photo: Erik Simonsen)

The asteroid 2021 GT2 is predicted to pass by Earth at a distance of 3.5 million km, about 10 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. This speed and distance is considered safe for Earth. Astronomers first discovered this meteorite last year and estimated its size at about 37 - 83 meters.

2021 GT2 is an Atenite asteroid, which means it orbits the Sun closer than Earth every 342 days, and its orbit crosses Earth's. Astronomers have discovered more than 1,800 such asteroids, many of which are potentially dangerous to Earth. After June 6, 2021 GT2's next near-Earth flyby will take place on January 26, 2034. At that time, this asteroid will fly by Earth at a distance of 14.5 million km.

2021 GT2 is classified as a near-Earth object. It is the term used to refer to asteroids and meteorites that rotate within 1.3 astronomical units around the Sun (astronomical unit is the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or 149.6 million km). . NASA tracks tens of thousands of similar objects, predicting each object's flight path over the next hundreds of years. Currently, researchers have not detected any near-Earth objects that could pose a threat.

Currently, NASA is testing whether it is possible to change the trajectory of a large asteroid with a rocket. In November 2021, NASA launched a spacecraft called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which is expected to crash directly into the 160-meter-wide Dimorphos asteroid in the fall of 2022. The impact will not destroy Dimorphos but enough to change its orbit slightly.