A giant three-mile wider asteroid is racing towards the earth at a lightning speed of 45,000mph. American space agency NASA is still clueless about the proximity of the asteroid.
It is set to speed past us, rather than too closely, and is the third largest of its kind on record to fly by Earth. The asteroid is named 3200 Phaethon after the Greek demi-god who, according to legend, nearly set the Earth on fire.
It will pass at about 6.4 million miles away from our planet, which is relatively close in space terms, but still around 27 times the distance between the Earth and the moon.
The asteroid will reportedly speed past at about 10 pm this evening. It has been classified by experts as “potentially hazardous” and NASA is gobsmacked by how close it is” With a diameter of about 5 km, Phaethon is the third largest near-Earth asteroid classified as ‘Potentially Hazardous’,” NASA said in a statement.
Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are planning to use the opportunity to obtain a detailed 3D model of the asteroid, which has a particularly irregular shape. According to NASA, 3200 Phaethon will be visible in small telescopes for experienced observers in areas with dark skies.
It is potentially detectable for three weeks but will be at its brightest between December 11 and 21. Asteroids are made up of metals and rocky material, while comets are made up of ice, dust and rocky material.
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