Published 15:21 IST, August 29th 2020

2011 ES4 Asteroid to skim past Earth on Sept 1 at a distance of 120000 km, the closest yet

The 2011 ES4 Asteroid which was discovered in the year 2011 is set to travel past Earth at a very close distance. Continue reading to learn all the details.

Reported by: Danish Ansari
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An Asteroid will skim past Earth next week and it will come at a distance much closer than Moon. Apollo near-Earth asteroid was discovered by astromers in 2011 and it has since been called ‘2011 ES4 Asteroid.’ It also had its closest approach to our planet same year on March 13. It has been described as an asteroid that has a considerably wide orbit around Sun and planet Earth.

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What time will Asteroid be visible?

2011 ES4 Asteroid is expected to fly by our planet on September 1, 2020, at 10:49 A.M. Eastern Time. It will pass at a distance of approximately 120,000 km from Earth, which is a very close distance. However, it may sound a bit concerning if you consider Earth's distance from Moon, which is about 384,400 km. asteroid is expected to travel at 18,253 miles per hour (29,375 km) when it flies by Earth. It is also worth ting that it can be very difficult to observe  asteroids passing close to Earth with a naked eye.

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American ncy has already added '2011 ES4 Asteroid' on its Center for NEO Studies' database of Close Approaches. In its database, Center for NEO Studies has classified 2011 ES4 as an Apollo asteroid. It explains that  Near-Earth Objects are asteroids and comets that are prodded through gravitational attraction of adjacent spheres into orbit of sun. This allows asteroids and comets to fly near our planet. NASA has also called this asteroid as a potentially dangerous one, however, it is found that it doesn't pose any kind of threat due to its diameter which is considerably small in size.

As for difference between two, most of asteroids are developed between Jupiter and Mars' orbits in solar system. On or hand, comets develop in outer planetary system and are made up of ice and or particles mixed with dust.

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Im credits: NASA

15:20 IST, August 29th 2020