Feel Lucky to See This Massive Asteroid Missing Earth

NASA keeps track of all Near Earth Objects like this asteroid in case its orbits change its direction.

The autumn equinox, which occurs on September 22nd, will bring the Earth around 12 hours of daylight, 12 hours of night, and a rogue space rock almost three times the size of the Statue of Liberty. 

According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this asteroid, dubbed 2021 NY1, will pass harmlessly by our planet, but it will still be classified as a Near-Earth Object (NEO) since it will pass within 120 million miles (193 million kilometres) of the sun.

According to that standard measure, asteroid 2021 NY1 will pass Earth at a distance of roughly 970,000 miles (1,560,000 km), or just below four times the distance between Moon and earth. 

While asteroids like this pose no danger to Earth’s existence, NASA keeps track of all NEOs in case their orbits alter in the future, putting them closer to a collision with our globe. Because most asteroids are stony debris from an old time, studying their properties can offer fresh knowledge about the early days of the solar system.

For what it’s important, this autumnal asteroid isn’t even close to being the closest one to ever travel near earth. According to Live Science’s sister site Space.com, the asteroid 2020 QG passed barely 1,830 miles (2,950 kilometres) above the Indian Ocean on Aug. 16, 2020. No known asteroids have approached our planet without bursting in the atmosphere or colliding on the surface.

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