Asteroids of September: These space rocks can make close encounter with Earth

Dozens of dangerous asteroids have zoomed past Earth in 2019 and one named Asteroid 2019 MO came dangerously close to our planet but exploded when it hit the planet’s atmosphere on July 22 above the Caribbean.


Devdiscourse News Desk | New Delhi | Updated: 09-09-2019 21:06 IST | Created: 09-09-2019 21:06 IST
Asteroids of September: These space rocks can make close encounter with Earth
Representative Picture. Image Credit: Pixabay

Asteroids can be catastrophic to life on Earth as they move at very high speeds and at least 3 such dangerous space rocks are expected to come dangerously close to our planet in September. It is believed that it was asteroids that wiped out dinosaurs as they can potentially bring tsunamis, shock waves and flatten winds if they come in contact with Earth.

Dozens of such asteroids have zoomed past Earth in 2019 and one named Asteroid 2019 MO came dangerously close to our planet but exploded when it hit the planet’s atmosphere on July 22 above the Caribbean. The space rock was only 3-metres wide and was moving at around 800 kmph, making it almost harmless. Other asteroids that have made close encounters with Earth were much bigger in size and speeds but luckily zoomed past Earth without making an impact.

Half-a-mile wide or bigger asteroids can generate enough dust and debris to block sunlight so plants across the planet can no longer grow, posing an existential threat to humans.

Coming back to the asteroids coming dangerously close to Earth during September 2019. Here is the list:

Asteroid 2010 CO1

Asteroid 2010 CO1, as the name suggests was discovered in 2010, it is much bigger and faster than 2019 MO. Moving at a speed of more than 50,000 kmph, the space rock, which is more than 800 ft in size, is expected to make a close encounter with Earth on September 13-14 but is expected to zoom past the planet without making an impact.

Asteroid 2019 RC

This asteroid is of similar size when compared to the 2010 CO1 but is a little faster. Moving at speeds of over 54,000 kmph, the asteroid 2019 RC is expected to zoom past Earth without making an impact on September 16.

Asteroid 2019 GT3

There's a piece of good news with Asteroid 2019 GT3. The huge space rock has already zoomed past Earth on September 06 but it worth mentioning. The size of this asteroid was more than 1,200 ft and was moving at a speed of just a little under 50,000 kmph, making it very dangerous for our planet if it had made contact. 

Asteroid 2019 GT3 was also classified as potentially hazardous asteroid by NASA’s CNEOS.

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