Another day, another asteroid! A space rock is on its way to Earth, and NASA has issued an asteroid alert.
More than 30 asteroid flybys occurred in September alone, and October is predicted to continue the pattern. These asteroids pass Earth at a reasonable distance, yet because of how close they are to Earth, they are still categorised as potentially hazardous objects.
It is the job of NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office to scan the skies for rogue asteroids that could endanger Earth. Asteroid 2022 SB9 has now been red-flagged by the organisation as it approaches the planet closely.
Key details about Asteroid 2022 SB9
Asteroid 2022 SB9 is already heading for the planet, NASA claims, moving at the startling rate of 32400 kilometres per hour. On October 2, at a distance of just 2 million kilometres, the asteroid will come closest to Earth.
The-sky.org states that the asteroid 2022 SB9 is a member of the Apollo group and is situated in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
The asteroid makes one circle of the earth every 1590 days. Its shortest and longest distances from the Sun during this journey are 149 million kilometres and 649 million kilometres, respectively.
NASA's tech behind asteroid tracking
NASA undertakes surveys utilising its ground-based telescopes, such as the Pans-STARRS1 in Maui, Hawaii, to find thousands of Near-Earth Objects and follow these asteroids (NEOs).
Using this infrared data, NASA is able to monitor the asteroid's trajectory and potentially anticipate it years in advance. Using several survey telescopes that follow celestial objects, close to 28,000 near-Earth asteroids have already been found.
The Near-Earth Object impact risk is determined by NASA's new impact monitoring system, which uses the Sentry-II algorithm.
Using this infrared data, NASA is able to monitor the asteroid's trajectory and potentially anticipate it years in advance.
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