NASA missed a 2021 SG asteroid approaching Earth, comparable in size to the Statue of Liberty, writes the Daily Mail, referring to Paul Chodas, director of the Center for the Study of Near -Objets terrestres.
On September 16, a celestial body approached Earth at 246 & nbsp; 000 kilometers, or about half the distance from the Moon. At the same time, astronomers only learned of the asteroid's approach the next day.
Chodas explained that the celestial body has gone unnoticed due to the eccentric orbit extending from Mercury to the asteroid belt around Mars.
Dimensions 2021 SG & ndash; from 42 to 93 meters. The asteroid's flight speed was 85,000 kilometers per hour. Its diameter is several times larger than that of a meteorite that fell near Chelyabinsk in February 2013.
Earlier it was reported that scientists had found molecules in the area. origin of life.
AiF.ru also wrote about how and why Pluto was deprived of the status of planet of the solar system.