The size of this asteroid is believed to be between 25 and 78 meters in diameter, three times larger than the Chelyabinsk meteorite, which created chaos in Russia in February of 2013 when it exploded above the surface leaving thousands injured, and destroying parts of buildings.
After successfully calculating the trajectory of the space rock—dubbed 2017 001—astronomers revealed that it passed about 123,000 kilometers from our planet at a speed of 37,300 kilometers per hour on Friday, July 21.
This, in theory, is a safe distance, but the most worrying thing about it is that astronomers did not see it the asteroid before it approached Earth.
Astronomers suggest that the asteroid was invisible to them because its surface was too dark or non-reflective, reports EarthSky quoting a volunteer from the Solar System Ambassadors program, Eddie Irizarry.
‘The late discovery of asteroid 2017 001 is a reminder that a Chelyabinsk type event can clearly repeat,’ Irazarry explained in an article for EarthSky. However, bear in mind that it is still a small asteroid, too small to cause an extinction level event.’
