First thing first : There ’s no cause for alarm system . Asteroid TX68 stupefy no threat to Earth at the consequence . But this asteroid , due to fly past Earth on March 8 , is rather interesting .
That ’s because , while there is huge uncertainty in how close it will fly past , it might come as close as 24,000 kilometers ( 15,000 land mile ) . This would be within the orbit of geostationary satellite , which orb at 35,000 kilometre ( 22,000 miles ) .
As mentioned , there is a enceinte amount of uncertainty , though . While that ’s the closest approach , it may pass anywhere between there and several million kilometers . NASA’slatest estimatesuggests it will vaporize past at 5 million kilometers ( 3 million miles ) . We wo n’t know for certain until after the asteroid has go by , if we get a probability to notice it .
“ 2013 TX68 is approximate to be about 100 feet [ 30 meters ] in diam , ” enunciate Cornell University Ph.D. student Sean Marshall , who works on observations of near - Earth asteroid , in astatement . “ Its close coming could be within Earth ’s ‘ ring ’ of geostationary satellites , or it could be 40 fourth dimension the length to the Moon – or anywhere in between . ”
The chances of the asteroid actually hitting anything are slight to none , though . Space is immense , so do n’t wait any satellites to get knocked out any time soon . Nonetheless , it ’s a jolly nifty event . This is n’t the first time an asteroid has arrive this close – without in reality hit us , of course – but with more modern telescopes , we should hopefully get a practiced chance to take a look at the asteroid .
“ Should this asteroid come closer than the geostationary satellites , it would be a rarified occurrence – that only happens about once per decade for large asteroid , ” added Marshall . “ What we know for trusted is that it will not clash with Earth this calendar month , so do not panic . ”
The asteroid will fly past us again on September 28 , 2017 , with a one in 250 million chance of hitting us . Further flybys in 2046 and 2097 have likewise low probabilities . But while these are low , they do highlight the importance of tracking asteroid to see we wo n’t be hit , something that will be highlight by the upcomingAsteroid Dayon June 30 , 2016 .
