Asteroid Totatis approached 4 times the distance of the moon's orbit
Avi Blizovsky
A computer model based on radar data reveals different perspectives on Totatis
The largest known asteroid to come close to Earth yesterday made a near-collision flyby with Earth this week, in an event watched closely by professional and amateur astronomers.
The giant rock will not hit the Earth, despite rumors that have been circulating on the Internet for the past month. Humanity is lucky because the asteroid is large enough to cause destruction on a global scale. Totatis is 4.6 kilometers long and 2.4 kilometers wide. On September 29, Totatis came within about 1.6 million kilometers of Earth or about 4 times the distance to the Moon.
No rock of this size should come close to us in the next century. say the scientists. Although rocks of this size have hit the Earth in the past, these have not even come close to us since astronomers have ways to observe them. Much smaller rocks have been observed closer, even within the lunar orbit.
NASA scientists and other asteroid experts have been following Totatis for over ten years, and even though its orbit changes throughout its 4-year cycle of the sun, they have a reasonable prediction regarding its orbit.
"Due to the nature of its orbit, we cannot predict thousands of years into the future of the object, however, during the lifetime of those living on Earth today, there is no danger of a collision. Alan Harris said. Senior researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences.
