#planetary-defense

#planetary-defense

Astronomers say the space rock, called 2026 JH2, is up to four times the size of a London bus and will get 'as close as you can without hitting'. It is expected to zoom by our planet at an estimated distance of around 56,000 miles (90,000km) at 10:23pm BST. This is exceptionally close - the equivalent of just a quarter of the distance between us and the moon.

Astronomers say the space rock, called 2026 JH2, is up to four times the size of a London bus and will get 'as close as you can without hitting'. It is expected to zoom by our planet at an estimated distance of around 56,000 miles (90,000km) late on Monday night. This is exceptionally close - the equivalent of just a quarter of the distance between us and the moon.

Discovered in December 2024, asteroid 2024 YR4 was briefly considered the most dangerous asteroid in decades after scientists initially estimated it had a 3.1% chance of colliding with the Earth in 2032. Closer observations quickly ruled out a city killer scenario, but instead astronomers calculated there was a 4.3% chance that the moon lay in the path of impact.

Soon after it was spotted in December 2024, worldwide telescopic observations quickly positioned it as the most dangerous space rock ever discovered—one that stood a 3.1-percent (or 1-in-32) chance of crashing into Earth on December 22, 2032. If it were to hit one of the cities potentially in its path, this 60-meter asteroid would have unleashed a force comparable to several atomic bombs, devastating the unfortunate metropolis.

Starting on November 27, a global team of scientists with the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) will kick off a two-month campaign to track the comet as it nears our planet. 'While it poses no threat, comet 3I/ATLAS presents a great opportunity for the IAWN community to perform an observing exercise due to its prolonged observability from Earth and high interest to the scientific community,' the UN explains on its website.

"Given how important it would be to make the right call... there's no legal framework or agreement on the decision making protocol for what the response would be?"

This is a remarkable opportunity," said Bobby Braun, who leads space exploration for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, in an interview. "From a probability standpoint, there's not going to be another chance to study a killer asteroid like this for thousands of years.