Just when we thought the danger of space rocks is not so close, there’s another one approaching. After an asteroid had a close approach to the planet, closer than the moon, another space rock is coming in this week. Asteroid dubbed 465824 (2010 FR) is said to be twice the size of Pyramid of Giza. The celestial object will enter into the Earth’s orbit on September 6. It will be about 4 million miles away from the planet as of now, but it is within the ‘close approach’ as per NASA. So should you be worried and will it be an end of the world event? We tell you all the details here. On September 1, 2011 ES4 and 2020 QG5 made a close approach yesterday.

The size of asteroid is said to be around 120-270 metres in diameter. It estimates suggests it could be twice as big as the Great Pyramid of Giza. This space rock is said to make its closest approach on September 6 around 2:08 PM. It was spotted about a decade ago, and thankfully it would not be a threat. Its chances of hitting the earth on its journey are minimum. During its closest approach to Earth, it will be 4.6 million miles away from the planet. It is approximately 1.3 AU (Astronomical Unit). Asteroid 2018VP1: NASA Data Shows Space Rock Heading Towards Earth and It Has 0.41% Chance to Hit the Planet, Should You Be Worried?

The asteroid is harmless because of their distance from Earth but they can closer than the expected distance due to gravitational pull of other planets. It can result in the change in the trajectory of the orbit. A change in asteroid’s orbit also takes place due to sunlight and the energy re-emiting in heat or radiation. NASA has time and again expressed possibility of earth being impacted by an asteroid hit. They have explained, “Over long periods of time, however, the chances of the Earth being impacted are not negligible so that some form of NEO insurance is warranted.” But as of now, this particular asteroid 2010 FR has no dangers to the earth’s surface.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 02, 2020 02:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).