&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "3,300-foot asteroid is racing towards Earth, and is the biggest in four years. Will it crash?")
An asteroid nearly one kilometre, or around 3,300 feet, in size is set to pass by Earth on June 27. This is the first time in four years that an asteroid of this scale will travel close to our planet. The asteroid is named 1997 NC1 and was discovered by the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking system on Haleakala in Hawaii. It is moving at a speed of 32,000 kmph. The last time such a huge space rock cane hurtling towards Earth was in January 2022 when asteroid 1994 PC1, almost the same size as 1997 NC1, passed at a distance of 1.98 million km. Asteroid 1997 NC1 will be 2.4 million kilometres from us at its closest point. It is an Aten-type (Earth-crossing) asteroid.
In 2013, a meteor 50 to 60 times smaller than asteroid 1997 NC1 exploded over Russia. Known as the Chelyabinsk meteor, it sent a massive sonic boom through the atmosphere. The impact was so huge that windows were shattered in six Russian cities. There were several injuries as well, mostly from the flying glass. Even though NASA and other space agencies were watching for potentially deadly meteors and comets, they missed Chelyabinsk because it came from the direction of the Sun.
How to see asteroid 1997 NC1
If you wish to see asteroid 1997 NC1, you would need a telescope that is at least 6 inches in diameter. But it won't appear like a star zooming through space, but only like a faint star. The asteroid will be best visible on June 26, 27 and 28.
What if asteroid 1997 NC1 crashes into Earth?
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It was too small, yet it managed to wreak havoc on the affected areas. The Chelyabinsk meteor exploded 29 km up in Earth’s atmosphere. However, if an asteroid the size of 1997 NC1 were to crash into Earth, it would tear through the atmosphere fully intact. Moving at a speed of 32,000 kmph, it would create a 10 to 15 km wide crater which would go as deep as 1.6 km. Immediately upon impact, both the asteroid and the site would vapourise. Buildings around the impact zone would crash to the ground, and the landscape for hundreds of kilometres would cease to exist. Sunlight would be blocked for months from the resultant rocks and dust.
