Seven asteroids have passed close to Earth in recent days: why this worries specialists
The rocky bodies in question, of good size, have been classified as potentially hazardous by NASA and are being watched closely thanks to an increasingly robust detection system.
Seven asteroids, including three classified as dangerous by NASA, passed Earth between February 27 and March 5. This is what our colleagues from Paris reveal.
The first two of them, the size of a basketball court, passed on Monday, February 27, at distances of 4.8 and 3.6 million km from our planet. The largest part of the chain increased to 4.5 million kilometers overnight from Friday to Saturday.
Fear of a skewed path
Distances that may seem very far, but if one of these asteroids sees its path deflected in a collision with another body, it can be sent directly towards us. That’s why engineers from NASA and the European Space Agency are keeping a close eye on these fireballs, which can also be attracted to Earth if they pass too close. An increased detection system has been put in place.
Experts estimate that more than 10,000 asteroids pass close to Earth each year, and most of them disintegrate in the atmosphere to form bright stars.
Effects capable of dealing massive damage are produced by orbs over 10 meters in diameter. The largest of them can exceed 10 kilometers, like the one that supposedly led to the extinction of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago.
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