Although NASA scientists estimate that an asteroid would have to be about 96 km wide to completely and utterly wipe out life on Earth, smaller asteroids also have the potential to cause damage to some extent. Unlike bigger space rocks which seldom stray towards Earth, smaller asteroids frequently fly close past the planet. Now, NASA has warned that another asteroid is on its way. Does it pose any danger?

Asteroid 2022 TS2 key details

NASA has warned that Asteroid 2022 TS2 is on its way towards Earth travelling at a staggering speed of 51444 kilometers per hour. It will make its closest approach to the planet today, October 20, at a distance of 2.2 million kilometers. According to NASA, Asteroid 2022 TS2 is almost the size of a commercial aircraft with a width of nearly 140 feet.

According to the-sky.org, Asteroid 2022 TS2 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids which are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s. Asteroid 2022 TS2 orbits the Sun in around 337 days. During this trip, its farthest point from the Sun is at 211 million kilometers and its nearest point is 73 million kilometers.

After today’s flyby, Asteroid 2022 TS2’s next close approach with Earth will take place on October 20, 2034, at a distance of around 2.68 million kilometers.

Did you know?

NASA has a mission in place to study the rising solar activity of the Sun. NASA’s SunRISE mission, which stands for the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment, is an upcoming mission expected to launch in 2024 to study and pinpoint how giant bursts of energetic particles originate from the Sun and evolve as they expand outward into space.

The mission will observe low radio frequency emissions to better understand the generation of Solar Storms as well as other explosive space events. This research will help scientists forecast space weather, improve our understanding of how our Sun works, and may apply to studies of other stars.