New Delhi: The Apollo asteroid 2024 TY21, approaching the Earth on 19th October in close proximity, is a recently discovered near-Earth object (NEO) by NASA. Astronomers have been paying close watch to this asteroid, which was found a few days ago, due to its closeness to Earth.
The orbit of asteroid 2024 TY21 is elliptical with respect to the Sun. Its aphelion, or farthest point, is 3.12 au, and its perihelion, or nearest point, is at 0.7629 au. It is approximately 1.94 astronomical units (au) away from the Sun. The asteroid completes one orbit around the Sun in around 2.7 years.
Closeness with the Moon and Earth
Both the Earth and the Moon are anticipated to be visited by 2024 TY21 in October 2024. The asteroid will approach the Moon on October 19 at 11:29 TDB (Terrestrial Dynamical Time), approaching within a range of 1.13 million kilometres, or almost three times the distance between Earth and the Moon, according to data from NASA’s JPL. It will approach Earth closely later that day at 15:35 TDB, travelling around 1.35 million km away. It is assuring that the asteroid will reach Earth at a relative speed of 15.5 km/s, or 55,800 km/h, while it will approach.
NASA Keeping Eye On Its Uncertainty
On October 10, 2024, the asteroid was identified by NASA, and observations have been ongoing since October 16. There is still uncertainty about its precise course because the data arc is just six days long. 2024 TY21’s condition code is 8, which says a rather high degree of orbital uncertainty. But further observations should help to refine its course.
The asteroid is not a direct threat to Earth, but it is important because of its proximity. 2024 TY21 is being attentive watched by all of the space agencies worldwide, with a projected absolute magnitude (H) of 27.2.
