Two large Asteroids made close approach to Earth: All you need to know about Asteroids 2011 ES4 and 2020 QG5

Sep 3, 2020, 17:26 IST

As per NASA, two asteroids had a close encounter with Earth on September 1, 2020. The Asteroids zoom past our planet about one-third the average distance to the moon. 

Asteroids
Asteroids

As per NASA, two asteroids had a close encounter with Earth on September 1, 2020. The Asteroids zoom past our planet about one-third the average distance to the moon. 

Details of the Asteroids

Two asteroids namely 2011 ES4 and 2020 QG5 having diameters 19 metres and 49 metres made a close approach towards our planet on September 1, 2020. The two of them have been classified as the Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) due to their distance from our planet. 

Asteroid 2011 ES4

As per a tweet by NASA Asteroid Watch, the Asteroid 2011 ES4 will not hit our planet despite being close on an astronomical scale and will safely pass by at least 45,000 miles away. 

As per NASA, the relative speed of the asteroid 2011 ES4 will be around 1.8 kilometres per second. In 2011, this asteroid was close to Earth and was visible for 4 days. 

On March 2, 2011, the University of Arizona carried out the Mount Lemmon Survey. In the survey, the Asteroid 2011 ES4 was discovered by the astronomers. 

Asteroid 2020 Q5G

As per NASA, the Asteroid 2020 Q5G was close to the Earth on August 11, 2004. This Asteroid will be 29 lakh kilometre away from our planet and it doesn't hit our planet even if it is altered by the gravitational pull of the other planets. 

Asteroids are rocky objects orbiting around the Sun. They are also called minor planets. The count for the known asteroids is 994,383 as per NASA. 

Who names the Asteroids?

The Asteroids are named by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). 

Arfa Javaid
Arfa Javaid

Content Writer

Arfa Javaid is an academic content writer with 2+ years of experience in in the writing and editing industry. She is a Blogger, Youtuber and a published writer at YourQuote, Nojoto, UC News, NewsDog, and writers on competitive test preparation topics at jagranjosh.com

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