An asteroid the size of the Empire State Building is hurtling towards Earth, but it is okay to look up.
It has been on our radar for a long time, giving us plenty of time to calculate its trajectory and confirm that it won't be colliding with our planet and ending civilization as we know it when it flies by Earth on January 18.
According to scientists, the asteroid (7482) 1994 PC1 is a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid due to its large size and proximity to Earth during previous flybys.
On January 18 at 4:51 p.m. The asteroid will come within 1.2 million miles of Earth, just over five times the distance between the two planets.
We have nothing to worry about, unlike the people in the movie Don't Look Up. Astronomers will be keeping a close eye on other Potentially Hazardous Asteroids once it passes, because it won't be coming back for another 200 years.
The flyby of 7482 1994 PC1 is exciting because people with a basic telescope have a chance to see it. As the asteroid approaches, EarthSky offers a detailed explanation of where to look and what to look for.
NASA embarked on its DART mission to crash a spaceship into an asteroid to see if we can alter the path of the craft in order to prevent a massive space rock from hitting Earth. The system could become a viable way to protect Earth from hazardous objects if the test succeeds.
Digital Trends has an article about the DART mission, which was launched in November of 2021.
You might be interested.
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