'City Killer' asteroid to pass by Earth. Check date

This upcoming weekend, an asteroid of considerable size, which could potentially cause destruction to a city, will fly between the orbits of the Earth and the Moon, fortunately missing both. The asteroid, known as 2023 DZ2, was identified a month ago.

On Saturday, it will pass within a distance of 515,000 km from the Moon and then continue its journey to fly by Earth a few hours later. The proximity of an asteroid of this size, estimated to be between 40 and 90 meters in diameter, is a rare occurrence in its approach toward the planet.

According to NASA, the asteroid's close approach this weekend provides astronomers with a valuable opportunity to enhance their understanding of asteroids, particularly in the event of discovering a hazardous object that could potentially collide with Earth.

Threat on the planet:

Despite being categorized as a "city killer," this asteroid, named 2023 DZ2, poses no threat of hitting our planet. Richard Moissl, the European Space Agency's planetary defense chief, states that its near pass presents an excellent chance for observations.
Given its close proximity of 68,000km, the asteroid will be visible through small telescopes and binoculars around the world.

Although the asteroid is expected to return to Earth's orbit in 2026, scientists have determined that it poses no threat to our planet during that time.

Here’s the time to watch the asteroid:

The closest approach of the 2023 DZ2 asteroid will occur on March 25th at approximately 3:50 pm (EST). Scientists have discovered another asteroid, named 2023 DW, in February, which poses a greater risk of colliding with Earth in the future. The European Space Agency identified the asteroid on February 26th and added it to its own Risk List, ranking it as the top threat. According to their estimates, the 2023 DW asteroid has a 1 in 607 probability of impacting Earth, and it could happen as early as February 14, 2046, on Valentine's Day.

FAQs

Q1. What is the name of the asteroid?
2023 DZ2.

Q2. Where is NASA headquarters?
Washington, DC 20546, USA.