Asteroid 7335 LIVE – Space rock four times size of Empire State Building to make ‘close approach’ in DAYS – how to watch

Asteroid composition revealed

In general, the composition of an asteroid is dictated by its distance from the Sun. The pressure and heat from our neighboring star tends to melt adjacent ice and blast away lighter components.

Asteroids come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but there are three basic types:

• Dark C (carbonaceous)
• Bright S (slicaceous)
• Bright M (metallic)

Dust cloud forms due to colliding asteroids

The catastrophic scene left behind by a cosmic collision was discovered by data from a decommissioned NASA satellite telescope, according to space.com.

The magnitude of a debris cloud observed by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows that the dust was produced when two dwarf planet-sized particles collided a few hundred light-years away.

The search for alien life

Launched four years ago, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a space telescope designed to search for undiscovered worlds.

It’s searching an area of sky 400 times larger than that covered by the Kepler mission, in a bid to find candidates that could host alien life.

Asteroid impact could cause extinction

Depending on the size of the space rock, an asteroid impact on the Earth could be an extinction-level event, and researchers have created simulations to see just how bad it could be.

Not all asteroids would mean the end of humanity and, in fact, a space rock would have to be pretty large to kill us all.

If an asteroid the size of the one that likely killed the dinosaurs hit Earth today, things would instantly change due to the force of the impact and its knock-on effect on the environment.

Meteoroids become meteorites

If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vaporize and becomes a meteor.

On Earth, it’ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up, and it may look like a fireball or “shooting star.”

If a meteoroid doesn’t vaporize completely and survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere, however, it can land on Earth and becomes a meteorite.

Comets orbit the Sun

Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun.

However, rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them as a result of the ice and dust vaporizing.

“They range from a few miles to tens of miles wide, but as they orbit closer to the Sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet,” Nasa reported.

Meteoroids are commonly referred to as ‘space rocks’

When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids.

“Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. Think of them as ‘space rocks,’” Nasa reported.

Difference between asteroids, meteors, and comets

An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun.

They are “rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago,” Nasa reveals.

Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter).

But they can be found anywhere, including in a path that can impact Earth.

Giant asteroids could be spotted early

Giant asteroids that could potentially endanger the Earth can be spotted thanks to a special system.

The Scout monitoring system, a small piece of technology the size of a shoebox, may be able to save the earth from catastrophic disasters.

Using new “Scout” monitoring technologies, scientists were able to spot an asteroid heading toward earth on March 11, and accurately predict its patterns.

Largest known asteroids

The largest asteroids in our solar system are chunks of space debris that have shaped the space around them.

This is a list of six of the largest known asteroids:

• Ceres (583.7 miles/ 939.4 kilometers)
• Vesta (326 miles/ 525 kilometers)
• Pallas (318 miles/ 513 kilometers)
• Hygiea (270 miles/ 444 kilometers)
• Interamnia (196.7 miles/ 306 kilometers)
• 52 Europa (188.9 miles/ 306 kilometers)

Asteroid 7335 caught on camera again

Just days ago, Virtual Telescope Project captured another image of Asteroid 7335.

Asteroid 7335’s discovery revealed

Asteroid 7335 was discovered by Eleanor Helin in May 1989.

The object hurtles past Earth roughly once every seven years, giving scientists a chance to examine it up close.

Image captured of Asteroid 7335

Last month, astronomers at the Virtual Telescope Project shared a new image of(7335) 1989 JA.

Asteroid (7335) 1989 JA was captured from a single 300-second exposure by a robotic unit dubbed “Elena”.

At the imaging time, the rocky object was around 57million km from Earth, but slowly approaching us.

Youngest asteroids ever found in Solar System 

Researchers have found a pair of asteroids orbiting the Sun that were formed under 300 years ago.

Details of the Astronomical discovery were published in a report in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The twin asteroids – dubbed 2019 PR2 and 2019 QR6 – are the youngest found in our solar system.

“It’s very exciting to find such a young asteroid pair that was formed only about 300 years ago, which was like this morning – not even yesterday – in astronomical timescales,” astronomer Petr Fatka of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences said.

NEO mission

Nasa is hoping to launch its Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor mission in 2026.

If the agency does so, it will finally have a spacecraft dedicated only to hunting asteroids.

It’s hoped that the NEO Surveyor craft will find 90 percent of asteroids that are 460 feet or larger within the first decade of its mission.

Temperature of asteroids revealed

According to Space.com, the average temperature of an asteroid’s surface is minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scientists track NEOs

Nasa considers anything passing near Earth’s orbit a Near-Earth Object (NEO).

Thousands of NEOs are tracked by scientists to monitor whether they’re on a collision course with our planet.

How asteroids get their names

When it comes to naming asteroids, the International Astronomical Union’s Committee on Small Body Nomenclature is lenient.

As a result, there’s a massive space rock named Mr Spock circling the Sun after the Star Trek figure.

There is also another space rock named after rock musician Frank Zappa.

There are even more solemn memorials, like the seven asteroids named after the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, which perished in 2003.

Asteroids are also given names based on places and other things, according to NASA.

Did an asteroid kill the dinosaurs?

The extinction of the dinosaurs was definitely caused by an asteroid impact, according to a team of scientists who were evaluating whether the newer theory that volcanoes led to their demise was accurate.

The researchers used a variety of methods to assess ancient temperature records and the amount of greenhouse gases that could have been in the atmosphere.

According to the study results, volcanic gasses may have still played a role in the decline of the dinosaurs.

How to spot the huge asteroid

According to Earth Sky, budding astronomers can try and spot the asteroid a couple of days before May 27 with a backyard telescope.

The asteroid should be reflecting sunlight on May 25, making it easier to spot as it appears like a slow moving star.

You’ll need to face south in the late evening and angle your telescope to the left of the Hydra constellation if you want to try and see the giant space rock.

‘Potentially hazardous’ asteroids explained

Nasa’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) explains on its website: “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth.”

Large fast-moving space objects that come within 4.65 million miles of Earth are considered to be “potentially hazardous” by cautious space organizations.

One small change to their trajectories could spell disaster for Earth.

When to look up revealed

Nasa says the asteroid should pass Earth at around 14:26 UTC, which is 10.26 ET on Friday, May 27.

Asteroid 7335 is ‘potentially hazardous’

An asteroid of this size would cause some serious damage if it hit Earth.

The massive space rock is “potentially hazardous” by Nasa’s standards, as it comes within 4.65 million miles of Earth.

However, there’s no need to panic as Asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) should fly by Earth at a distance of about 2.5million miles away.

Asteroid 7335 expected to make ‘close approach’

Nasa expects Asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) to make a close approach to our planet on May 27

The giant space rock is predicted to be up to 1.1 miles long.

By comparison, New York’s Empire State Building stands at 1,454 feet tall – making the asteroid four times the size of the iconic building.

Asteroid 7335 expected to make ‘close approach’

Nasa expects Asteroid 7335 (1989 JA) to make a close approach to our planet on May 27

The giant space rock is predicted to be up to 1.1 miles long.

By comparison, New York’s Empire State Building stands at 1,454 feet tall – making the asteroid four times the size of the iconic building.