Yesterday (27), according to NASA confirmed that an asteroid will fly close to Earth at a speed of 37,000 km / h this Thursday, the day April 28. nicknamed “418135 (2008 AG33)”according to the US space agency database, the rock is about 800 meters in diameter, twice the size of the Empire State Building.

The object was discovered 14 years ago, in January 2008 (as the name suggests), by researchers on Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, an observatory located in Arizona, USA.

In fact, experts have noticed that the same object will pass the Earth every seven years. As for this period, the last time it appeared near the planet was March 1, 2015. After 2022, “2008 AG33” will again pass close to Earth only in 2029, more precisely on May 25th.

No risk to the earth

Fortunately, a large asteroid does not threaten life on Earth, since according to NASA itself, it will pass at a distance of more than 3.2 million kilometers. To understand the distance, the Moon is about 380 kilometers from our planet.

Asteroids fly near our planet constantly, almost every day, some are rarer and larger than others. The US space agency tracks these objects on a daily basis, especially those that pass within a radius of about 200 million kilometers from Earth.

Although they are not that close and do not pose a danger to life on the planet, for specialists this is a relatively small distance when it comes to celestial objects, since planets and stars are located millions of light years from Earth. What is really impressive in this particular case is the maximum speed that the asteroid “2008 AG33” will reach. At 37,000 km/h, stone is 30 times faster than sound speedwhich corresponds to about 1230 km/h.

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Via: Tweak Town, Weather Source: NASA.