IPFS News Link • Space Travel and Exploration
Asteroid the size of Eiffel Tower heading for Earth in December
• https://www.jpost.com By AARON REICHA large asteroid approximately 330 meters long is heading for Earth in early December, according to NASA's asteroid tracker.
Dubbed 4660 Nereus, or 1982 DB, this vaguely egg-shaped asteroid has a size making it taller than the Eiffel Tower and nearly twice as tall as the Washington Monument. It is set to pass by the planet on December 11 at a distance of approximately 3.9 million kilometers and at a speed of 6.578 km/s.
For comparison, the distance between the Earth and the Moon is about a thousandth of that – around 385,000 km. As such, despite being classified as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) due to its size and close proximity to Earth, it seems unlikely to pose a threat to the planet.