NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has announced that an asteroid, named 2008 OS7, will make its closest approach to Earth in over a century on February 2.
The asteroid, which is approximately 890 feet in diameter, is classified as "potentially hazardous."
The space rock will pass within a distance of about 1.77 million miles from Earth. While this may seem like a considerable distance, it is relatively close in astronomical terms. The JPL's graphic representation of the asteroid's trajectory appears to depict a near-collision course with Earth. However, the likelihood of an actual impact is extremely low.
Following this close encounter, 2008 OS7 is not expected to be visible from Earth for several centuries. The Virtual Telescope Project has arranged a livestream for those interested in witnessing this rare astronomical event.
Asteroids of 2008 OS7's size are often referred to as "city killers" due to the catastrophic damage they could inflict if they were to enter Earth's atmosphere. As reported by Forbes, most asteroids of this size go undetected by NASA. In February 2023, for instance, a large asteroid on a collision course with Earth's orbit was only discovered by an amateur astronomer in Crimea, having been overlooked by international space agencies.
These gaps in Earth's planetary defense system are a significant concern. There is increasing evidence to suggest that a major climate disaster and mass extinction event, known as the end of the Younger Dryas period, was likely triggered by a comet either colliding with Earth or exploding within our atmosphere. This event would have vaporized everything in its path, including the ice sheets covering North America.
NASA has successfully altered the orbit of at least one small asteroid. However, the space rock behaved so unpredictably after its path was changed that NASA initiated an investigation to understand the cause.
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