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Shamakhi Observatory: Earth-approaching asteroid Icarus poses no threat

16 June 2015 14:51 (UTC +04:00)

He said that Icarus, which is considered a small asteroid, is observed less frequently.

“A small asteroid swept past the Earth at a distance of 26 million kilometers yesterday. The distance is so great that the asteroid’s approaching the Earth is impossible. The asteroid Icarus has a diameter of 1 km and weight of 100,000 tonnes. The asteroid Icarus will safely pass by Earth at more than 21 times than the distance of Earth to the Moon. It will approach no closer than approximately 10 million kilometers. Thus, there is no need to worry,” the senior researcher added.

Atai said according to the information of NASA, 9 asteroids will sweep the Earth this year.

“These objects are coming closer in turn. The reports on their collision with the Earth are nothing more than rumors. A large amount of funds are allocated to space rockets for their neutralizing asteroids in case of any threat,” he noted.

Icarus will make the closest approach to Earth today.

Icarus makes a close approach to Earth at gaps of 9, 19, or 38 years. On June 14, 2090, it will get within about 6.5 million kilometers of Earth.