28,000 km/h. Here is the speed at which asteroid 481394 (2006 SF6) is currently approaching Earth. The fireball, which measures 619 meters in diameter (twice the size of the Eiffel Tower) was spotted by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (meaning the Center for the Study of Near-Earth Objects in Space). Earth – CNEOS).
It has been identified as a space object occasionally crossing Earth’s orbit. A phenomenon that occurs when the asteroid is near its farthest point from the Sun in its path. According to the CNEOS, he would thus visit the Earth about twice a year, reports Maxisciences.
“Potentially hazardous space objects are defined on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to approach too close to Earth. In particular, all asteroids with an orbital inclination of at least 0.05 astronomical units”[Editor’s note a unit astronomical corresponds approximately to the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or approximately 150 million kilometers] or less and an absolute magnitude [NDLR intrinsic luminosity of a celestial object] of 22.0 or less are considered potentially dangerous”, indicates the CNEOS.
Meaning ? The risk is currently low. Its passage, scheduled for November 20 at 1 a.m. in France, will also take place in orbit 4.3 million kilometers from Earth.
However, it is likely that the celestial body 481394 (2006 SF6) will crash on Earth one day. The consequences could then be dramatic. A large city could indeed be completely destroyed.
