Astronomers report a strange coincidence that will occur this week: the passage of two large asteroids by Earth with a short difference of hours between them. They warn how none of them pose a risk to the survival of our planet, but it must be taken into account that one of those enormous asteroids was just detected just a few days ago.
The information provided by the European Space Agency details these two large asteroids that, without any doubt, have made more than one scientist nervous. One of them is the asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21, which according to calculations, has an immense size. It is so large that it exceeds in size 99% of the objects that have passed near the Earth on other occasions. Therefore, it is going to be an asteroid like few others. Along with this, the asteroid 2024 MK will also pass this week, which is the one that has just been discovered and makes it clear that there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to detecting asteroids.
An asteroid much larger than usual
Asteroid 2011 UL21 is huge. The only good news is that it won’t pass as close to Earth as you might imagine. Although it falls into the category of being a NEO (Near-Earth Object), the distance at which it will pass will be almost 20 times farther than the position of our Moon. Therefore, concern about its passage is reduced. According to calculations, the passage of this asteroid is scheduled for June 27.
One of the main peculiarities of this asteroid is that its orbit around the Sun is more inclined than is usually normal. Although it is not clear what the reason may be, one of the reasons being considered may be that the asteroid is being altered by the gravitational interaction it has with Jupiter. This is something that worries astronomers, since they would be confirming that this possible interaction of the planet could put us in danger. The reason for this is that Jupiter would have the capacity for an asteroid that would have previously been classified as safe to have a trajectory that would make it dangerous.
For now, the asteroid 2011 UL21 should not be a problem, but astronomers look at this situation with uncertainty because they may have to start considering many more cases. Thus, perhaps the trajectories of the asteroids would not be the only thing to keep under control, but also the way in which they could be affected by Jupiter.
An asteroid that has just been discovered
This also worries experts a lot. They know that, today, there is no need to worry about the asteroid 2024 MK that will pass by Earth on June 29. But the fact that it was detected at the last minute, exactly on June 16, is something that should not fall within what is normalized. Scientists know that, if it had been a dangerous asteroid, the situation would be putting the planet at a critical point that would be difficult to solve.
In this case, furthermore, this asteroid will pass close to the Earth: at 290,000 km, which is about 75% of the distance we have from the Moon. With this comparison, at the same time, you can see that, as we said before, the other asteroid will pass very far away. But, in this case, his trajectory will be very close. And that will allow us to see it with binoculars or a telescope.
For experts, the existence of asteroid 2024 MK is a wake-up call. They are clear that, as we said, these types of discoveries should not be made with these margins of action. The asteroid is huge and, if it were on a risky trajectory, we could be in serious trouble. Therefore, they want to continue working on improving the detection of asteroids.
