A giant ‘Planet Killer Asteroid’ is to pass by Earth closely on Thursday

Asteroid Passing by Earth (Representative Image - Canva)

On Thursday, June 27, a giant asteroid as big as a mountain will by the Earth closely. This asteroid named 2011 UL21, will be moving at the speed of approximately 58,000 mph (93,000 km/h) while passing by our planet.

This space rock is one of the largest space rocks to come that close to our planet in 125 years. This asteroid is calculated to be orbiting the Earth near space surrounding occasionally, 1.3 times the average distance between Earth and the sun.

The observation of this asteroid can be done on a live stream by VTP, from the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Ceccano, Italy. The live stream begins at 4 p.m. ET (1:30 am IST) on June 27.

This phenomenon can also be witnessed by space enthusiasts and stargazers through using equipment as the opportunity of an asteroid passing by Earth will be available to viewers present in the Northern Hemisphere under optimal conditions.

According to the European Space Agency (ESA), this is larger than the 99% known asteroid that came near Earth. But this space rock is smaller than the largest space rock (Vredefort asteroid)  that hit the Earth's surface in past by 10 times.

And the one that wiped out the dinosaurs from Earth 66 million years ago, this one is smaller by 5 times. The name “planet killer” was given to this asteroid because the damage caused by this asteroid may be lesser than these earlier collided asteroids but the possibility of significant damage done while passing by may happen.

The climate change could be triggered by the debris released into the atmosphere of Earth. 2011 UL21 will pass closely by around 4.1 million miles (6.6 million km) away from Earth, according to simulations by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).