ONLY 3 DAYS TO GO: Asteroid 2006 QQ23 bigger than Empire State Building to approach towards Earth, may hit

Astronomers have found out that an asteroid will approach dangerously towards the Earth on August 10, 2019. Yes, you read it right. Only three days to go. The asteroid named as 2006 QQ23 is bigger than the Empire State Building and is labelled as “potentially hazardous” by NASA. It is to be noted that the size of Asteroid 2006 QQ23 is 1,870 feet in diameter while the Empire State Building is 1,454 feet tall. That means the asteroid 2006 QQ23 is around 36 stories larger than the Empire State Building. Yes, the space rock is massive. However, there’s no need to panic as the gigantic asteroid will fly past the Earth and will not collide with our planet.

You all must be aware that in the recent times, many deadly asteroids approached towards the Earth, but did not hit our planet. Also, it is a known fact that asteroids can bring tsunamis, shock waves and flattening winds that could be catastrophic. Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. The space rocks (asteroid) approach towards the Earth due to the gravitational forces that affect them. According to a report published by spacetelescope.org, there are more than 7 lakh asteroids that have been found in space. Asteroids are mainly found in an area called the ‘main belt’, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

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Coming back to the asteroid 2006 QQ23, NASA’S CNEOS estimated that the space rock will come within about 4.55million miles of the Earth and will be whizzing past at 10,400 miles per hour. It is likely to zip past the Earth from 4.55 million miles away. It is worth mentioning here that the distance may seem like there’s no risk at all but any fast moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be "potentially hazardous" by the space organisations. 

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This asteroid hasn't got this close to Earth since 2001. After its fleeting flypast on August 10, the asteroid is not expected to come near our planet again until February 15th 2022. In the meantime, NASA has detected a total of seven asteroids that will be heading towards Earth this August. The gigantic asteroids are named as 2013 BZ45, 2018 PN22, 2016 PD, 2002 JR100 and 2019 OU1.

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