2011 AG5: Oblong Asteroid As Big As Empire State Building Passes Earth

Published:Dec 5, 202321:29

2011 AG5: Oblong Asteroid As Big As Empire State Building Passes Earth

By Kendra Pierre-Louis

On February 15, 2011, a newly found object known as 2011 AG5 made its closest strategy to Earth. 2011 AG5 is an Apollo-type near-Earth asteroid orbiting the Sun each 5.5 years. At the time it was found, in mid-January, it was about 500 meters (1,600 toes) in diameter--almost as large because the Empire State Building. But because it handed Earth final week, it was a lot farther away, making it a lot smaller in our sky.

The asteroid will make one other shut strategy to Earth in 2023. There is a small chance--about a 1 in 625 chance--that it may collide with Earth in 2040. However, it's more doubtless that the asteroid will move by with out incident.

If 2011 AG5 had been to hit Earth, it might launch the power equal of about 2.5 million tons of TNT. That's about 25 occasions the power launched by the Tunguska occasion, a 1908 explosion that's thought to have been brought on by the collision of a small asteroid or comet with Earth's environment.

But an affect by 2011 AG5 could be very unlikely. "The probability of an impact is very tiny, and the consequences, while devastating, are far less than a global extinction event," mentioned JPL's Don Yeomans. "This is why we closely observe only those asteroids that have a chance in a million or greater of hitting Earth, and why we have invested in international programs likesentinel to scan the heavens for these potential city-killers."

While the chances are tiny that 2011 AG5 may hit Earth, the invention of this asteroid is a reminder that we have to be ready for the potential for a future affect. NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at JPL is working to seek out and characterize as many near-Earth asteroids as doable to supply warning about any that might pose a threat to our planet.