On August 7, 2027, Earth will experience a cosmic close encounter with 1999 AN10, a massive near-Earth asteroid roughly one kilometer wide—comparable in scale to a large mountain or the Golden Gate Bridge. During its flyby, the space rock will cruise past our planet at a distance of approximately 389,861 kilometers, which is roughly the same distance as the orbit of the Moon.
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| This illustration shows an asteroid on one side of Earth with the moon on the other side. Image via Batman111 from Pixabay. |
While 1999 AN10 is officially classified as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its impressive size and an orbital path that brings it relatively close to Earth's neighborhood, there is no reason to panic. Astronomers have tracked its trajectory for decades and confirmed that this upcoming pass poses zero threat of impact, offering stargazers and scientists an exciting opportunity to observe a giant space rock safely passing by.
Full article at EarthSky
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