Asteroid today: Gigantic space rock speeding towards Earth! NASA on alert

Did you know that water on Earth may have originated from asteroids? Yes, and a study has actually revealed that water may have originated on an asteroid. The study was conducted after collecting samples from an asteroid called Ryugu by the Japanese Hayabusa-2 space probe during a 6-year space mission. Asteroids vary in the composition of their core materials. Some asteroids are made up of clay and silicate, while others are made up of silicate materials and nickel-iron, according to NASA. Asteroids often make close flybys with Earth, generally missing the planet at a safe distance. NASA has now warned that another one is on its way.

Key details about Asteroid 2022 TK1

The Asteroid 2022 TK1 will make its closest approach to Earth today, October 14, at a distance of 3.8 million kilometers. The asteroid, which is nearly the size of a house with a width of 53 feet, is speeding towards Earth at 46872 kilometers per hour. This asteroid does not pose any viable threat to Earth and will pass the planet safely though it was still classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid due to the close proximity of its encounter with Earth.

Asteroid 2022 TK1 is part of the Apollo group of asteroids. According to the-sky.org, this asteroid takes almost 1668 days to complete one orbit of the Sun, during which its farthest distance from the Sun is 689 million kilometers and nearest distance is 135 million kilometers.

Asteroid – the source of water on Earth?

In a paper published in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers said that the samples collected by the Japanese Hayabusa-2 space probe could shed new light on the origin of life as well as the formation of oceans on Earth.

The space probe gathered 5.4 grams of dust and rock samples from the asteroid which scientists used to gather information on the origin of life. The study said, “Ryugu particles are undoubtedly among the most uncontaminated Solar System materials available for laboratory study and ongoing investigations of these precious samples will certainly expand our understanding of early Solar System processes.”