An asteroid that looked to be on a collision course with Earth has missed our planet by a couple of thousand miles. The asteroid has been labeled Sar2594. It has been given the official designation of 2022 FD1.
The asteroid was see by the same astronomer who discovered the asteroid that hit our planet earlier this month.
Asteroid Misses Earth by a Few Thousand Miles
An asteroid that looked like it was about to hit our planet has missed by a few thousand miles.
The asteroid has been labeled Sar2594 and has since been given the official designation of 2022 FD1. It has been characterized as a Near-Earth Object or NEO.
According to a report by Space, the space object is about two to four meters in size. It was spotted by astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky at the Konkoly Observatory in Hungary on the evening of March 25.
Per the report, "the asteroid passed through the planet's shadow above the Pacific Ocean a few hours later, on Friday (March 26) at 3:10 a.m. EDT (0810 GMT)."
"About an hour later, the rock made its closest approach to the planet, zooming past at a distance of about 5,300 miles (8,500 kilometers)," Space adds.
Sárneczky has said that the asteroid's proximity to our planet changed its orbit.
EarthSky says in the report that 2022 FD1 can be in the running for the smallest asteroid seen. The record is currently held by 2015 TC25, which is around two meters in diameter.
Astronomer Shares His Discovery on Twitter
Krisztián Sárneczky has shared his discovery of the 2022 FD1 on Twitter, where he describes himself as an asteroid hunter in his bio. Here is one of his tweets about the discovery:
Almost. Again :-) My newly discovered asteroid #Sar2594 will pass cca. 15,100 km from Earth around 09:10 UT. Minus Earth radius = 8,700 km above the surface. Almost :-)
— Krisztián Sárneczky (@sarneczky) March 25, 2022
Here is another tweet that shows the change in orbit of the asteroid:
Significant change of the inclination of my new close approacher #2022FD1 (aka #Sar2594) during its flyby: i=9,4 deg -> 4,5 deg. (data: @AdrienCoffinet, graphics: @MinorPlanetCtr) pic.twitter.com/hQeKqG935d
— Krisztián Sárneczky (@sarneczky) March 25, 2022
Related Article : NASA Asteroid Warning: Burj Khalifa-Sized Asteroid Passes by Earth in March, Categorized as 'Potentially Hazardous'
Same Astronomer Discovered Asteroid That Hit Earth This Month
If the name Krisztián Sárneczky rings a bell, it is most likely because you have heard of the small asteroid that hit Earth early this month. How is he connected to that? He discovered it too.
According to the report by Space, Sárneczky discovered an asteroid designated as 2022 EB5 "just a few hours before that space rock burned up in Earth's atmosphere somewhere between Iceland and Norway."
2022 EB5 is around three meters wide. It is also the fifth asteroid to have been discovered before it could impact our planet. The other four asteroids are 2008 TV2, 2014 AA, 2018 LA, and 2019 MO.
