The half-kilometer-across celestial body does not pose an immediate danger to the planet, however
© Telegram / KIAM & ISON
Russian scientists have discovered a new massive asteroid heading towards earth, the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics said on Sunday. Images of the celestial body, which measures around half a kilometer in diameter, were shared on social media.
“On the night of October 1, two observatories in southern Russia confirmed the discovery of a new asteroid 2022 SE37 approaching Earth,” the institute said in a statement.
The asteroid orbits the Sun on an elliptical trajectory, making a full circle in some 3.44 years, it added. The object does not, however, pose an “immediate danger” to our planet, the scientists stated.
The institute released early imagery of the asteroid, which appears as nothing more than a distant dot in the skies through powerful telescopes.
Reached by TASS for comment, an astronomer with the Russian Academy of Science, Yuri Balega, said that 2022 SE37 was unlikely to ever threaten Earth.
“This is yet another of almost 30,000 asteroids already discovered by astronomers around the world. It is flying at a distance of many millions of kilometers from our planet and poses no danger to Earth,” he said.
