SIX DAYS TO GO: ‘Potentially hazardous’ Asteroid 2006 QQ23 to come very close to Earth

Asteroid 2006 QQ23, bigger than the Empire State Building, is all set to approach dangerously towards the Earth on August 10, 2019. Yes, you read it right. Asteroid 2006 QQ23 has been labelled as “potentially hazardous” by NASA. Well, need not worry as space rock will not collide with the Earth. It is well known that many deadly asteroids have recently 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.

Coming back to the asteroid 2006 QQ23, the size of the space rock is 1,870 feet in diameter and it is bigger than the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building is 1,454 feet tall. If we go by the size, asteroid 2006 is around 36 stories larger than the Empire State Building. Yes, asteroid 2006 QQ23 is massive, however, there’s no need to panic as the space rock will fly past Earth on August 10.

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According to NASA’s CNEOS, asteroid 2006 QQ23 will come within about 4.55million miles of the Earth and will be whizzing past at 10,400 miles per hour. The space rock will not hit the Earth. 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.  

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.

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Meanwhile, 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. 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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