Foto:Depositsphotos
Tomorrow evening, the world will watch with excitement the passage of the large asteroid 2011 UL21, which is approaching our planet at a speed of about 93 thousand kilometers per hour. This space object, classified as a “planet killer”, will fly by at a distance of 6.6 million km from Earth – about 17 times further than the Moon.
2011 UL21 is a near-Earth asteroid and one of the largest celestial bodies to approach our planet in the last 125 years. According to astronomers, its diameter is from 1.7 to 3.9 km. That’s more than 99% of all known near-Earth asteroids, but about five times less than what wiped out the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago.
Although the distance the asteroid will fly seems significant, its potential impact has scientists worried. In a hypothetical collision with Earth in 2011, UL21 could cause significant damage and throw enough dust into the atmosphere to cause serious climate change.
The magazine Live Science highlights that an asteroid of this size could provoke global cataclysms, clouding large areas with smoke and dust upon impact. This, in turn, would lead to a cooling of the climate and possible disruption of agriculture.
Astronomers and astrologers around the world will be closely following the trajectory of the asteroid to make sure the calculations are accurate. Our planet has already experienced many encounters with near-Earth objects, and modern science is doing everything possible to predict and prevent possible disasters.
So there is no reason to panic for now, but it reminds us of the importance of space exploration and monitoring of potentially dangerous objects. Let tomorrow evening be another reason to look at the stars and appreciate the scale of the universe in which we live.
