Giant and "potentially hazardous" asteroid successfully passes Earth

At a potentially dangerous distance of 6.2 million km.

The celestial body that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had called "potentially hazardous" safely passed by Earth on Wednesday. This is reported by Daily Mail.

At its closest approach, the asteroid was 6.2 million km from Earth, roughly 16 times the distance to the Moon.

NASA first detected it in 1998, and astronomers regularly monitor it because it could come close to Earth in future orbits. Astronomers have not yet been able to determine the asteroid's exact size; according to calculations, it measures between 1.84 and 4.11 kilometers.

Experts say that by 2079, asteroid 1998 OR2 will be 3.5 times closer to Earth than it is now.

It is worth noting that in an image taken by astronomers at the Puerto Rico observatory, the asteroid appears to be wearing a mask.

According to NASA estimates, potentially hazardous asteroids are celestial bodies larger than 140 meters whose approach to the planet is less than 7.5 million kilometers. 1998 OR2 meets these criteria.

Earlier, the asteroid's trajectory was shown in a video simulation, demonstrating how the asteroid moves toward our planet and how small the distance to Earth is on cosmic scales. Such a celestial body could destroy cities and bring about global changes on the planet.