Astronomers are trying to keep track of every cosmic body that can collide with the Earth. Most of them are small and do not pose a threat, but there is always the possibility that somewhere in space another object goes unnoticed. Recently one of them was discovered already on the approach to our planet.
The alarm was caused not by the size of the meteoroid, but by its unexpected appearance - the problem is that it came from the direction of the Sun, and scientists did not even know that it was there. The object, called 2021 UA1, passed at a distance of approximately 3000 km from the Earth. The closest approach was recorded on October 25, 2021 at about 3:07 GMT (6:07 GMT) - it flew over Antarctica. Considering the small size of the object, it did not pose a danger.
3000 km is quite close: much higher than the ISS orbit (about 400 km), but closer than communication satellites in geostationary orbit (about 36 thousand km). If the object, with its modest dimensions (about 2 meters), had nevertheless entered the Earth's atmosphere, it would have burned up before falling to the surface. According to astronomer Tony Dunn (Tony Dunn), the case is interesting because the meteoroid flew from the direction of the Sun, so it remained invisible until the very moment of approach. Prior to that, in August last year, an object 2020 QG passed at a distance of 2950 km from the Earth, and in November 2020, an object called 2020 VT4 passed at an altitude of only 370 km.
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