NASA has recently raised an alert regarding an asteroid, formally known as Asteroid 2023 TK15, which is rapidly approaching Earth and is anticipated to make an exceptionally close approach on Friday, October 20. In fact, it will approach closer to our planet than the moon, according to the space agency.
This celestial body, which is drawing near to us, belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids. These are a category of space rocks that intersect with Earth’s orbit, characterized by their semi-major axis, which is larger than that of Earth. The name “Apollo” for this group is derived from the 1862 Apollo asteroid, a significant discovery made by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. NASA has been closely monitoring these asteroids over the years as part of its efforts to safeguard Earth from potential asteroid impacts.
Asteroid 2023 TK15, as per NASA’s information, will pass Earth at an incredibly close distance of merely 379,994 kilometers. This proximity is even less than the distance between Earth and the moon, which is approximately 384,400 kilometers. Consequently, this will mark one of the closest encounters with an asteroid observed so far this year.
The asteroid’s discovery and tracking have been made possible through the use of various advanced technological instruments, including the NEOWISE telescope, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), Pans-STARRS1, and the Catalina Sky Survey.
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