Asteroid 2020RN1 to fly by close to Earth on September 17, see details here

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been tracking asteroids pretty much, since its inception. At one point of time, NASA is tracking the course of several hundreds of asteroids that could potentially be hazardous to human life on Earth. NASA has deployed specific Asteroid watching satellites and maintains a record of their course and with the help of NASA Asteroid watch data on its official website. Aside from tracking the movement of the discovered asteroids, the space agency also shares important information it has gathered with the general public on its official website. Read on to know if the incoming asteroid 2020RN1 is potentially hazardous to humans.

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How big is Asteroid 2020RN1?

According to a report on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s official website, the 2020RN1 is 99 feet long and is the size of a medium-sized aeroplane. This asteroid is a Near-Earth Object (NEO) by NASA and has been classified in the Apollo class of asteroids. The Apollo class of asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids which are all named after 1862 Apollo, discovered by well known German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. Asteroid 2020RN1 among many others is an Earth-crossing asteroid which has an axis greater than that of the Earth.

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How close will Asteroid 2020RN1 come to Earth?

At its closest approach point, Asteroid 2020RN1 will be only 0.0103 astronomical units away from Earth. In miles, this will be 4,410,000 miles. While it might not seem like a dangerously close approach but in astronomical terms, it is pretty close. Asteroid 2020RN1 will be flying by Earth on September 17 at 16:55 UT, which is 9:55 am Thursday, Pacific Time (PT), 12:55 pm Thursday, Eastern Time (ET), 10:25 pm Thursday, Indian Standard Time (IST) and 2:55 am Friday, Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). The asteroid is approaching Earth at a relative velocity of 9.82 km/s.

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Recent Asteroid fly-by’s recorded by NASA

According to the report on NASA’s Jet Propulsion laboratory website, Asteroid 2020 RJ flew by the earth on September 8. It was only 0.0084 astronomical units (AU) from Earth, which means it will only be 780828.781 miles from Earth. Before this on September 6 at around 15:30 EST, Asteroid 2010 FR had passed close to Earth. The asteroid is reportedly up to 270 metres wide and 886 feet tall and will remain close to the earth for another six days.