A huge asteroid potentially taller than the IBM tower in Atlanta is expected to pass near Earth’s orbit this Thursday, according to tracking data from NASA.
The size of the asteroid, called 2021 GM4, is estimated to be between 360- and 820-feet across and its speed at over 13,421 miles per hour.
CNEOS (@NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies) maintains a database of all known asteroids which is constantly updated with new discoveries. A customizable table of close approaching asteroids is available at https://t.co/ocjetQuyyu
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) May 15, 2018
It won’t get close to Earth and scientists predict it to pass by at a distance of 2.8 million miles, around 12 times as far as the Earth is from the moon, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). The exact time of the asteroid’s approach is reported to be around 7:53 p.m. local time.
Asteroid 2021 GM4 poses no imminent threat to Earth but CNEOS has registered the space rock as “potentially hazardous.”
Launching this year, @NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is a #PlanetaryDefense driven test & will be the first demonstration of a technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space!
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) June 30, 2021
Learn more about the #DARTMission: https://t.co/dDpYCPIhmT#AsteroidDay pic.twitter.com/SrKxoiPUt5
The term refers to the notion that at some point down the line in the solar system’s future, the asteroid has the potential to collide with Earth.
“Occasionally, asteroids’ orbital paths are influenced by the gravitational tug of planets, which cause their paths to alter,” NASA said. “NASA knows of no asteroid or comet currently on a collision course with Earth, so the probability of a major collision is quite small.”
Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, that may be asteroids captured by the planet’s gravity. https://t.co/zPGoZNaR1V #AsteroidDay pic.twitter.com/kEQD74oaRb
— NASA Mars (@NASAMars) June 30, 2021
“In fact, as best as we can tell, no large object is likely to strike the Earth any time in the next several hundred years.”
Last Wednesday marked Asteroid Day, a day for public awareness of asteroids and their role in the solar system. The day was co-founded by astrophysicist and famed musician Dr. Brian May of the band Queen, Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, filmmaker Grig Richters, and B612 President Danica Remy.
A variety of events and live streams are available through Friday on AsteroidDay.org.
Who is joining us for #AsteroidDayLIVE? Here’s a quick preview… (@DrBrianMay @AnoushehAnsari @Astro_Flow @masi_gianluca @MissionToPsyche @LucyMission #DART…)
— Asteroid Day ☄ (@AsteroidDay) June 25, 2021
Watch it on https://t.co/EeW1jUdbNs, Twitch and via @SES_Satellites on June 30th at 18:00 CET | 16:00 UTC | 12:00 ET. pic.twitter.com/zv2pKeHKAL
About the Author