An asteroid of several tens of meters will pass this Saturday between the Earth and the Moon

This Saturday at 8:50 p.m., a large asteroid between 40 and 100 meters in diameter “will pass at less than half the Earth-Moon distance”, The European Space Agency warned this week. At its closest point, this asteroid, named 2023 DZ2, will be 168,300 kilometers from our planet.

In this sense, “it does not pose any risk to Earth, but it will be interesting to observe,” writes ESA.

“City Killer”

Asteroids are metallic or rocky bodies that can be a few meters or several kilometers in size and orbit the Sun.

This was discovered very recently, on February 27, and is nicknamed city ​​killer (“destroyer of cities”) from ESA. With a diameter of between 40 and 100 meters, if it were to head towards Earth, its impact could create significant destruction, because it is large enough not to completely disintegrate upon entering the atmosphere.

But fortunately, according to the projections of the European Space Agency, there is no chance that this asteroid will hit our planet in the next century.

“There is no chance of this ‘city killer’ hitting Earth, but its proximity offers a great opportunity for observations!” said Richard Moissl, head of ESA’s planetary defense office.

“A unique opportunity for science”

“The approach of an asteroid of this size only happens once a decade,” also noted NASAwhich “offers a unique opportunity for science”.

Observing 2023 DZ2 will allow us to learn more about asteroids, which could be useful in the future “if a potential asteroid threat is discovered,” the US Space Agency writes.

According to ESA, the asteroid, which is advancing at almost 37 km per second, can be observed with binoculars or telescopes. The European Space Agency predicts that the asteroid will return to our fold in April 2026. Once again, it will miss Earth.