2016 NG33 passed by the Earth at a distance of 18 070 000 km
(47 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, or 12% of the average distance between the Earth and the Sun), at about 2.50 am GMT on Monday 8 August 2016. There was no danger of
the asteroid hitting us, though had it done so it would have presented a
considerable threat. 2016 NG33
has an estimated equivalent
diameter of 94-300 m (i.e. a spherical body with the same mass would be
94-300 m in diameter), and an towards the upper end of this range
would pass through the atmosphere and directly impact the ground with a
force of about 1110 megatons (about 65 300 times the
explosive energy of
the Hiroshima bomb), causing devastation over a wide area and creating a
crater about 4.6 km across, and resulting in global climatic problems
that
could last for decades or even centuries.
The calculated orbit of 2016 NG33. JPL Small Body Database.
2016 NG33 was discovered on 11 July 2016 (28 days before its closest approach to the Earth) by the University of Arizona's Mt. Lemmon Survey at the Steward Observatory on
Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The designation
2016 NG33 implies that the asteroid was the 832nd object (object G33)
discovered in the first half of July 2016 (period 2016 N).
2016 NG33 has a 386 day orbital period and an eccentric orbit that
takes it from 0.94 AU from the Sun (i.e. 94% of the average distance at
which the Earth orbits the Sun) to 1.14 AU from the Sun (i.e. 114% of
the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun). It is therefore classed as an Apollo
Group Asteroid (an asteroid that is on average further from the Sun than
the Earth, but which does get closer). This means that close
encounters between the asteroid and Earth are very common, with the
last thought to have happened in February this year and the next predicted in February 2017. As
an asteroid possibly larger than 150 m in diameter that occasionally
comes within 0.05 AU of the Earth, 2016 NG33 is also classified
as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid.
See also...
The Perseid Meteors. The
Perseid Meteor shower lasts from late July to early September each
year, and are expected to be at a peak on Thursday 11- Friday12 August
2016. The Moon is expected to be quite bright on that night, however it
will be setting at about 1.00 am local...
Asteroid 2016 OA passes the Earth. Asteroid
2016 OA passed by the Earth at a distance of 1 734 000 km (4.50 times
the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, or 1.16% of
the average distance between the Earth and the Sun), at about 8.15 am GMT on Monday 18 July 2016...
Asteroid 2016 NK22 passes the Earth. Asteroid
2016 NK22 passed by the Earth at a distance of 264 500 km (0.69 times
the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, or 0.18% of
the average distance between the Earth and the Sun), at about 1.15 pm GMT on Monday 11 July 2016. There...
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