Asteroid Bennu: Take A Look At Second-Most Dangerous, Supermassive Space Rock

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

Asteroid Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid in the Apollo group discovered by the LINEAR Project on 11 September 1999. Asteroids, asteroids and only asteroids. Now-a-days you must be hearing a lot about asteroids. Aren’t you? Well, asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. The space rocks approach towards the Earth due to the gravitational forces that affect them. There are more than 7 lakh asteroids that have been found in space. Coming back to the asteroid Bennu, NASA’s asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-REx spacecraft grabbed the closest shot of the space rock. 

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

Asteroid Bennu has a mean diameter of approximately 492 metre (the size of the Empire State building).

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

The gigantic asteroid has an estimated weight of 79 billion kilograms. 

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

Asteroid Bennu may collide with our planet in 2135. 

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

The gigantic space rock has an estimated 1-in-2,700 chance of impacting our planet between 2175 and 2199.

Asteroid Bennu (Photo Credit: NASA)

Asteroid Bennu is the second-most dangerous known space rock.