Detection of asteroid flying 30 times closer to Earth than the Moon

Astronomers discovered an asteroid as large as a car, closest to Earth at 1:28'42 on April 12 Hanoi time, at a distance of 18,700km.

Orbit of asteroid 2024 GJ2. (Photo: NASA).

Asteroid 2024 GJ2 is as big as a car. After discovering the object 3 days ago, astronomers calculated it flew close to Earth at a distance of 19,300km on April 11, only 3% of the distance between Earth and the Moon. 2024 GJ2 measures 2.5 - 5m, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). This means the asteroid would burn up in Earth's atmosphere if its orbit directly crossed the planet, according to Space .

The next close flyby of 2024 GJ2 falls in 2093 , according to ESA's near-Earth object coordination centre. When that happens, it won't come as close to Earth as it did this time. Instead, the distance will be 10 times farther, at 205,947 km and half the distance from Earth to the Moon.

Asteroids are small meteorites that orbit the Sun. NASA estimates there are 1,113,527 asteroids in the Solar System, including nearly 35,000 near-Earth asteroids. They orbit the Sun and are concentrated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. However, because it is relatively small, the asteroid is susceptible to the effects of gravity and has an orbit that intersects with the orbits of planets, according to Jay Tate, director of the Spaceguard observatory in the UK. Most asteroids range in size from 10 m to 529 km.