One asteroid of about 740 meters will pass close to the Earth between today and tomorrow. Considered “potentially dangerous” by the NASA, it will reach its maximum point this Tuesday, November 1st, when it will be 2.3 million kilometers from our planet.
Called 2022 RM4, the asteroid is the size of more than two Eiffel Tower, in Paris, is almost 20 times greater than the Christ the Redeemer, at the Rio de Janeiro, and is almost twice the size of the Empire State Building in New York.
Even with the proximity, equivalent to six times the distance between Earth and Moon (2,297,173 km), 2022 RM4, does not pose a risk of collision with our planet, even with the potential to do so.
Taking into account its size, the consequences of a shock would be very serious and severe. The date of approximation of the phenomenon with the planet Earth exactly on the date in which the halloween made many people curious and even worried.
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seen with the naked eye
The phenomenon can be seen with the naked eye or with telescopes amateurs. Each time it gets closer to Earth, it acquires a brighter aspect, since its magnitude of 14.3 will be bright enough to allow observations with both the naked eye and amateur telescopes.
The asteroid 2022 RM4 was detected in September by the Pan-STARRS 2 telescope in Hawaii. The Steward Observatory, at the University of Arizona, in the United States, analyzed and confirmed its trajectory close to Earth.
Ways to avoid collision with Earth
With each new asteroid discovered, NASA studies ways to avoid collisions with Earth. Among the studies are experiments to avoid a possible collision in the future.
It is speculated that the dimensions of RM4 are similar to Dydimos, the asteroid that orbits Dimorphos, the rock against which NASA's DART mission collided in late September, seeking to alter its orbit.
By Erica Caetano
Journalist
