The chance of an asteroid Bennu hitting Earth is higher than expected

asteroid Specify It is considered a potential danger to existence The known object most at risk of colliding with Earth. A study revealed by NASAOn August 11, he indicates that the chances of this body reaching the planet are greater than what scientists initially expected.

This asteroid is no stranger to Earth and has passed close periods in 1999, 2005 and 2011. Now, with access to new data, NASA predicts that the celestial body, which is 500 meters in diameter, will take a trajectory that will put it in the closest ever position to our planet., more than a hundred years from now, in the year 2135.

it is expected that, On September 24 this year, the asteroid will pass 110 thousand kilometers from Earth, the absolute minimum, equivalent to less than one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Possible collision: when is it?

During this passage, the effect of Earth’s gravity on the asteroid must be felt and may later put it on a collision course with the planet. – which, if this happens, will come true only in September 2182.

At this point, the uncertainty about the exact location of the Bennu crossing, in the year 2135, makes scientists unable to know what path it will follow next. But the simulation appears 150 potential impact scenarios, with a cumulative probability of 1 in 2,700 collisions with Earth between 2135 and 2300.

Before leaving the orb on May 10, 2021, he did Osiris Rex Information about the size of the object was collectedshape, mass and composition, while observing the rotation and its orbital trajectory. The mission was launched in December 2018 and returns to Earth in 2023.

10 things you should know about Bennu

1. This asteroid was discovered by Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research a 11 September 1999;
2. It was the original designation of Beno 1999 RQ36. In 2013, a third-year (first-cycle) student named Michael Bosio won a competition to name an asteroid.
3. Bennu drifted into space near Earth because of Gravitational interactions with giant planets And the gentle push of the rising sun.
4. Bino density only 30% higher than water. This indicates that the asteroid may have been a loose collection of rocks, like a pile of rubble.
5. Bennu approaches Earth every 6 years.
6. Scientists estimate that Beno Has a 1 in 2700 chance of colliding with Earth, during one of his next approaches to the Earth at the end of the twenty-second century.
7. Bennu can burn, depending on the distance from the sun. Over millions of years, from all the planets, Bennu is likely to hit Venus.
8. There is a prominent rock in the Antarctic of Bennu that is about 50 meters high and 55 meters wide.
9. Although some asteroids have moons, this is not the case.
10. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has studied Bennu in unprecedented detail. A sample was collected in 2020 and is expected to return to Earth in 2023.