Asteroid 7335, also known as 1989 JA, passed our planet on Sunday. The object passed near the Earth at a speed of more than 47,000 kilometers per hour. According to information provided by NASA, the diameter of the rock is more than one kilometer.
A large asteroid flashed near our planet on Sunday, May 22 at 2:26 UTC (4:26 Poland time). The object was one of the largest of its kind to have flown close to our cosmic home in recent months – over a kilometer in diameter.
First meeting in seven years
This property was discovered on May 1, 1989. This was done by Eleanor Helen at Palomar Observatory in the United States. The orbit of an orb is well understood. In the year of its discovery, it was close to our planet, and then flew in 1996 and 2015, but it was not that close. The Sunday convergence was shorter than it was in 1989.
47 thousand kilometers per hour
The body passed us at a speed of more than 47,000 kilometers per hour. The shortest distance was about 4 million kilometers, which is just over 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. Scientists were confident in their calculations with an accuracy of only 153 km, so we can be calm and not expect a collision.
The rock is estimated to be 1.8 km in diameter, but more recent calculations have been made to reduce it to about 1 km. Radar observations showed that the rotation period was 12 hours. The body is a Class S asteroid, or rocky, made of silicate materials. This is one of the most common types of asteroids.
Main image source: stock struggle