An asteroid would make a pass-by close to the Earth on April 29 at about 3.26 pm but would not collide, NASA scientist Dr Deepak Kumar Karan, who hails from Athagarh, has said
Dr Karan said the asteroid was first observed on July 24, 1998 by astronomers of the Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking System of NASA at the Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii.
It has a huge estimated diameter of about 1.8 to 4.1 km (about two to three times the length of Mahanadi bridge, Cuttack).
At the point of its closest approach, distance from the Earth would be around 63 lakh km. So, there’s no fear of its collision with the Earth, Dr Karan said.
According to the above criteria, the NASA has classified the asteroid as ‘potentially hazardous’. On April 16, 2079 the asteroid would again safely pass by the Earth at a distance of around 18 lakh km, he added.