HYDERABAD: Brace yourselves, city stargazers! An asteroid with diameters between 22 and 49 metres will fly by the Earth on September 1. Called 2011 ES4, the asteroid will be extremely close to the Earth’s surface on Tuesday — closer than the Moon, as a matter of fact — and will be visible to the naked eye.
According to the Birla Science Centre in Hyderabad, the asteroid is estimated to be 1.2 lakh km away from the Earth. To put things into perspective, the Moon is 3.84 lakh km away as it orbits around the Earth.
“The last time something like this happened was in 1908, when it was believed that a bit of a Comet Encke struck a place called Tunguska in Siberia. So, this time also, in theory, the asteroid’s journey poses a threat. But this is a rare possibility and there’s no need to worry about it,” said Director of Birla Science, Dr D Sidharth.
First discovered in 2011, asteroid 2011 ES4 passes by Earth every nine years. The last time it approached close to the Earth, it was visible from our planet for almost four days. The asteroid is equivalent to the size of several football fields.