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Asteroid alert: NASA confirms dates of potentially hazardous asteroids that will approach Earth

mohammed_hassan / Pixabay

NASA is closely keeping tabs on any and all asteroids that come within the Earth’s neighborhood. The agency has recently revealed the date of approach of a number of potentially hazardous asteroids that are set to pass by Earth this week.

Express reports that NASA has confirmed the dates of a number of asteroids classified as potentially hazardous. Overall, the agency has revealed six potentially hazardous asteroids will be making an approach to Earth in 2020, but as for recent asteroids that have yet to pass by, the latest one, 2002 BF5, passed by Earth on July 21. BF5 measured at 656 feet in diameter and got as close to Earth from a distance of 3.6 million kilometers.

The next asteroid, 2020 ND, is set to make an approach on July 24 and measures at 850 feet in diameter. The nearest it will approach the planet is at a distance of 5.57 million kilometers. The third asteroid, known as 2009 PQ1, will be arriving a few weeks later on August 5. PQ1 is also the smaller one from both asteroids, as it measures 623 feet in diameter and will only get as close to Earth at a distance of 4.12 million kilometers.

The fourth asteroid that will be making an approach, 2010 FR, measures at 885 feet in diameter and will only make an approach to Earth on September 6 from a distance of 7.4 million kilometers. But the biggest of them all would be the fifth asteroid 2000 WO107, which will be making an approach to Earth on November 29. WO107 measures 2,600 feet in diameter and will only get as close to the planet from a distance of 4.3 million kilometers.

In other news, researchers found that Great Britain was once affected by a massive tsunami after uncovering sediments on the southern coasts of the United Kingdom. The tsunami in question was known as the Storegga Slide and did not just affect Britain, but also Greenland, the Faroe Isles, Denmark, and western Scandinavia. The tsunami resulted in the submerging of an ancient land bridge that once connected Great Britain to mainland Europe known as Doggerland.

According to Professor Vince Gaffney of the University of Bradford’s School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences, exploring this ancient bridge is one of the last major archaeological challenges that scientists are faced with.

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