An asteroid, comparable in size to an airplane, is hurtling towards Earth at a velocity of 34,727 kilometers per hour, and NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) is closely monitoring its trajectory.
Scheduled for its closest approach to Earth on November 9, the asteroid will pass at a distance of 2.4 million kilometers from the Earth’s surface.
Regarding its potential hazard to Earth, NASA notes that the asteroid’s size is insufficient for it to be classified as a Potentially Hazardous Object. Celestial objects with a width of at least 492 feet that approach within 7.5 million kilometers of Earth are typically considered Potentially Hazardous Objects. However, Asteroid 2023 VC has a width of only 91 feet, equivalent to the size of an airplane. Despite its smaller size, even an asteroid of this scale could pose a potential impact threat to Earth.
This asteroid belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, characterized by their Earth-crossing orbits and semi-major axes larger than Earth’s. The naming convention for this group is based on the 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered in the 1930s by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth.
This marks the first-ever close approach of Asteroid 2023 VC to our planet in recorded history. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is diligently tracking the asteroid’s orbit and studying its characteristics as part of the near-Earth object program.
Formed through the process of accretion, similar to other asteroids, Asteroid 2023 VC emerged from dust particles and tiny specks colliding and adhering together due to gravity within a protoplanetary disc. This process eventually led to the formation of larger bodies like asteroids.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOs) employ various methods, such as the Sentry system, image comparisons, funding related projects, and telescopic search efforts, to detect and monitor near-Earth objects like Asteroid 2023 VC and ensure they do not pose a threat to our planet.
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