Rome, 23 June 2024 – Two asteroids are approaching Earth’s orbit, both classified as ‘potentially dangerous‘ for the size for the size and distance they will pass from our planet. Scientists have named them 2011 UL21 And 2024 MK: the first, of kilometric dimensionswill pass a few million kilometers from Earth, while the second will zoom at the height oflunar orbit.
But there is one more curiosity: the two asteroids are expected by scientists between June 27th and 29thright next to theAsteroid Day next Saturday. Here we know about the two celestial bodies that are about to pass over our heads and when they will be observable from Italy.
Asteroids UL21 and 2024 MK will pass by Earth on June 27 and 29
There World Asteroid DayAsteroid Day, is celebrated on June 30th of each year in memory of the small asteroid that devastated the 1908 fell in Siberia, on the Tunguska region. It was a celestial body ‘only’ wide 50-80 meters in diameteryet it devastated over 2,000 square meters of Siberian taiga.
The explosion, which occurred at an altitude of 5-10 kilometers from the earth’s surface, knocked down tens of millions of trees and begat a glow visible at 700 kilometersof distance. Yet, the crater was never found on the ground. The sound of the explosion was heard 1,000 kilometers from the site of the explosion. The shock wave almost did derail some trains of the Trans-Siberian Railway, 600 kilometers from the point of impact.
The two asteroids 2011 UL21 And 2024 MK they will approach the land between 27 and 29 June 2024. They are both classified as Pha (Potentially Hazardous Asteroid), but it does not necessarily mean that it is really that dangerous for our survival. The acronym Pha indicates, in fact, only that the two asteroids are bodies with dimensions greater than 140 meters and can reach less than 7.5 million kilometers from Earth orbit. And, according to the National Institute of Geophysics (Inaf), it does not mean that they are lethal for our planet.
Discovered the October 17, 2011 from the Catalina Sky Survey, asteroid 2011 UL21 is moving in an Apollo-type orbit and has a diameter of 2.5 kilometers and a troubled orbital history. Scientists know that the period of rotation is 2.7 hoursa value very close to the sound barrier (2.5 h), below which an asteroid begins to lose matter in space.
It is not excluded, therefore, that 2011 UL21 could be a binary asteroid similar to Dinkinesh, discovered in ’99. Its passage from Earth orbit should take place Thursday 27 June. At 20.26 UTC (22.26 Italian hours) will be at the minimum distance from Earth 6.6 million kilometers.
AND ten times smaller the very recent 2024 MK, discovered only on June 16th of this year. It was intercepted by the network Atlas telescopes, an asteroid impact alert system developed by the University of Hawaii and funded by NASA. Its trajectory was recorded by four telescopes – two in Hawaii, one in Chile and one in South Africa – which scan the sky in real time every night.
He too moves on aApollo orbit: similar to that of its brother 2011 UL2, but with the inclination to the ecliptic of only 8 degrees. It’s little bigger than a square – his diameter is between 150 and 200 meters – and scientists know very little about it, other than the rotation period. We’ll see him move on (so to speak) to 3.44pm Italian time Saturday 29 June.
The peculiarity of the two asteroids is that, despite being very bright, they will not be visible in the sky with the naked eye. Only small ones can be observed telescopes and photographed with telephoto lenseseven if not of very high quality.
