RECIFE, PE (UOL/FOLHAPRESS) – This year’s Halloween will have a special guest who crosses the sky. No, it’s not a witch or a ghost: it’s asteroid 2022 RM4, which is potentially dangerous (which is why it’s being watched by NASA). The US space agency has finally confirmed that this will be the expected date of its passage.
The path continues on November 1, when the space rock passes the closest point to the planet, at a distance of about 2.3 million km. For comparison purposes, the average distance between the Earth and the Moon is six times greater.
By cosmological standards, this is a very small margin, so the asteroid can be seen from almost all parts of the planet, with the naked eye or with instruments (depending on the vision of the sky).
It will pass at a speed of 84,500 km / h, which is about 68 times the speed of sound. In addition, its size is frightening: its estimated diameter is 330 x 740 meters. To give you an idea, it is equivalent to 20 Christ the Redeemer (which is 38 meters high), or just under the Burj Khalifa building, considered the tallest in the world, at 828 meters.
According to NASA, any asteroid of such dimensions could have tragic consequences on Earth. That’s why scientists around the world are constantly monitoring space, mapping the trajectory of space rocks and disregarding those that are considered the most dangerous.
NASA classifies any asteroid measuring at least 140 meters in size and up to 7.5 million kilometers from Earth as “potentially dangerous.”
This specification takes into account the fact that a celestial body, even at a reasonable and safe distance, can collide with other objects in space or feel the gravitational effects of planets, including Earth, changing its course.
In late September, a space agency mission collided with the asteroid Didymos, which was about the same size as 2022 RM4: about 780 meters in diameter. The object was transformed by the Dart probe.
The discovery is recent, but there is no risk of collision
Despite the shocking specifications, the orb was recognized very recently. The Pan-STARRS 2 telescope, located in Hawaii, was the first to observe the approaching 2022 RM4 on September 12, according to EarthSky.
In the first hours after its discovery, there was a warning of a potential danger of collision with Earth. But once the scientists recalculated the path, that possibility was ruled out.
Since then, the movement of the rocks has been monitored by the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona in the United States. The Minor Planet Center, part of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, was responsible for naming the celestial body.
Follow the offer of 2022 MYR 4
In Brazil, asteroid 2022 RM4 will only be visible with more powerful telescopes. Anyone who wants to watch the clip should pay attention to the time. The maximum point of approach to Earth will be reached at 15:32 (Brasilia time).
But you can continue online with the Virtual Telescope Project. The live broadcast will start at 14:00 (Brasilia time).
According to a tweet from amateur physicist and astronomer Tony Dunn, creator of Orbit Simulator, at its peak, the asteroid will shine with a power of about 14.3, making it possible to see it with the naked eye or with amateur telescopes in some regions of the Earth.
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