Asteroids are ancient space objects that remained after the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago. Do you know how these space rocks are named, despite the fact that they come extremely close to Earth? According to ESA, the procedure of awarding a provisional designation to an asteroid begins when a single observer discovers it on two consecutive nights and reports the data to the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Minor Planet Centre. The IAU issues a provisional designation, which is often a serial number such as “2023 KT1.”
The temporary designation comprises the year of discovery, followed by two letters indicating the order of discovery that year. Another carefully monitored asteroid is now anticipated to pass close to Earth today.
Details on the asteroid 2023 K52
The asteroid, known as Asteroid 2023 KS2, will make its closest approach to Earth today, June 2, at a distance of 3.9 million kilometers. According to NASA, this asteroid is roughly the size of an airliner, with a width of nearly 68 feet. It is already on its journey to Earth at a breakneck speed of 36942 kilometers per hour!
NASA has also revealed that this space rock is part of the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are space rocks that cross the Earth with semi-major axes greater than the Earth’s. They are named after the massive 1862 Apollo asteroid, which was discovered in the 1930s by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth.
Did you know that?
MIT scientists devised a new method to investigate the interior structure of the space rock based on how the spin of the asteroid changes when it approaches a large celestial object like a planet, according to research published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. This will aid in studying the asteroid’s interior structure as well as its weight distribution, which may be useful in future DART missions.
The MIT scientists hope to apply their findings to Apophis, a Near-Earth Asteroid. Although this asteroid is not predicted to collide with Earth anytime soon, a tiny deviation in its path might send it racing toward the globe. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, gle News, and onstage for the most recent tech news and reviews. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see the most recent videos.
