NASA warns 100-foot asteroid is racing towards Earth, will be closest on...

NASA has issued an asteroid warning for August 14. Named 2024 PH2, it will zoom past Earth at a speed of 26,000 km/hr. Right now the asteroid is in the constellation of Capricorns, about 2,400,000 kilometres away from us. At its closest point, it will be 1.1 million miles from Earth. The space rock is 100 feet in size, about the size of an airplane.

Does the asteroid pose a threat to us?

As per NASA's guidelines for identifying a space rock as being hazardous, 2024 PH2 doesn't pose a threat. Asteroids that don't come closer than 4,650,000 million miles to Earth or are smaller than about 140 metres, that is around 460 feet, don't pose a threat. It is a Near-Earth Object (NEO) and its orbit will bring it extremely close to Earth. Based on NASA's guidelines, this asteroid becomes a potential threat. However, since it is smaller in size, it does not threaten our safety. However, a regional impact might lead to some type of destruction.

The asteroid belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. Scientists use these events as opportunities to study space rocks. Apollo group of asteroids are categorised as near-Earth objects (NEOs) with orbits that cross Earth's path. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory issues asteroid warning as part of its Asteroid Watch programme.

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Asteroid 2024 PH2 will not come this close to Earth for the next 10 years. It will be visible only through long-exposure photography because it is dimly lit.

NASA DART mission

NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office regularly monitors asteroids moving near our planet and those that might come too close. The space agency studies these space bodies to learn more about the universe. This also helps them understand if an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. In such a scenario, NASA will work to avert any destruction. An experiment under the DART mission aimed to understand how humans can hit an asteroid if it poses a threat to us. An impact with asteroid Moonlet Dimorphos deflected it from its path while breaking it up into several pieces.