A good-sized asteroid will pass by Earth on Saturday, August 21, 2021.
Astronomers will be able to witness the 1.4-kilometer-wide asteroid move past our planet in its orbit via a telescope.
There is no potential reason to worry as the asteroid will pass Earth from a distance 9 times that of the Earth and the moon.
In comparison to asteroid 2016 AJ193, Dubai’s legendary skyscraper Burj Khalifa is 829.8 meters or 2,722 feet tall, which is half a mile over. Astronomers have said that the asteroid is very dark and not reflective.
It’s been designated as asteroid 2016 AJ193. It’s estimated to be just under a mile wide (1.4 km wide).
And it’s moving fast. It’s traveling at 58,538 miles per hour (94,208 km/h) relative to Earth. That’s about about 16 miles per second (26.17 km per second).
Closest approach to Earth will occur on August 21, 2021, at 11:10 a.m. ET (15:10 UTC).
This means amateur astronomers with 8-inch telescopes (or larger) have an opportunity see this asteroid glide by early on August 21, just hours before sunrise
This asteroid orbits around the sun every 5.9 years. It gets relatively close to Earth’s orbit, but then travels beyond the orbit of Jupiter. The August 21 flyby will be this asteroid’s closest approach to Earth at least for the next 65 years, the longest period for which its orbit has been calculated.
