Asteroid 2019 OU1, surpassing the size of the great pyramid of Giza, also known as the Cheops pyramid, will approach the Earth on August 28. The diameter of this celestial body is from 71 to 160 m. The closest distance at which it approaches the Earth will exceed the distance from Earth to the Moon by almost 20 times and will be about 1 million km. Asteroid information was published by the American Aerospace Exploration Agency on the NASA NEO Earth Close Approaches calendar of nearby objects.
Within a month, messages appeared about other space objects that were approaching the Earth. So, the asteroid 2019 OK was able to “sneak up” to the Earthless and was discovered by scientists on July 24, only a day before the “meeting” with the Earth. Another celestial body - 2006 QQ23 - flew at a distance of 7.4 million km from Earth this Saturday, August 10.
According to Alexander Bagrov, a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, a leading researcher in the solar system research department of the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, journalists overheated the public with reports of the danger of asteroids flying past Earth.
“The reason for the appearance of such messages is usually the calendar of near-by objects published by the American Agency for Aerospace Research. Such a calendar is incomplete, since it includes only objects discovered by astronomers, for which it has already been possible to calculate orbits and speed. There is no point in talking about the danger of such objects, since all known objects from this “flight schedule” do not pose a threat to the Earth. The threat is different - every night, scientists discover about 400 new, previously unknown celestial bodies. Potentially, each of these new facilities could be dangerous, ”says Bagrov.
According to the scientist, this situation arises due to the fact that at present there is no monitoring system for celestial bodies that would be located in space.
“All telescopes are located on Earth, they work effectively only at night and only in good clear weather. If any object is directed toward us from the side of the Sun, not a single telescope sees it during the day. Often, astronomers learn about its existence even when it flew past and fell into the field of view of ground-based equipment, ”said the scientist.
About 400 thousand celestial bodies have been discovered and cataloged for which orbital parameters have been calculated, and several tens of thousands of orbits of such objects pass in relative proximity to the orbits of our planet. However, for long-term prediction of danger from outer space, modern science lacks the accuracy of measurements, the expert believes.
“To combat the asteroid-comet threat, it is necessary to create in space a system of round-the-clock observations of the sky. A good space telescope will be able to see even dark, inconspicuous objects, ”the astronomer concluded.