Astronomers Detect Asteroid Passing at Close Distance above Earth

In this NASA image obtained on April 6, 2020, the brightest
sets of orange dots belong to asteroids Klotho and Lina, both orbiting
out in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, while smaller,
more distant asteroids can also be seen passing through the image.
AFP.
In this NASA image obtained on April 6, 2020, the brightest sets of orange dots belong to asteroids Klotho and Lina, both orbiting out in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, while smaller, more distant asteroids can also be seen passing through the image. AFP.
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Astronomers Detect Asteroid Passing at Close Distance above Earth

In this NASA image obtained on April 6, 2020, the brightest
sets of orange dots belong to asteroids Klotho and Lina, both orbiting
out in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, while smaller,
more distant asteroids can also be seen passing through the image.
AFP.
In this NASA image obtained on April 6, 2020, the brightest sets of orange dots belong to asteroids Klotho and Lina, both orbiting out in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, while smaller, more distant asteroids can also be seen passing through the image. AFP.

A three to six meter-long asteroid passed 2,950 kilometers above Earth on Sunday, the closest asteroid ever observed passing by our planet, NASA said.

If it had been on a collision course with Earth, the asteroid named "2020 QG" would likely not have caused any damage, instead disintegrating in the atmosphere, creating a fireball in the sky, or a meteor, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said in a statement.

According to AFP, the asteroid, passed above the southern Indian Ocean on Sunday at 04:08 GMT. It was moving at nearly 12.3 kilometers per second, well below the geostationary orbit of about 36,000 kilometers at which most telecommunication satellites fly.

The asteroid was first recorded six hours after its approach by the Zwicky Transient Facility, a telescope at the Palomar Observatory at the California Institute of Technology, as a long trail of light in the sky.

NASA said that similarly sized asteroids pass by Earth at a similar distance a few times per year, but they're difficult to record, unless they're heading directly towards the planet.

The explosion in the atmosphere is usually noticed, as in Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013, when the explosion of an object about 20 meter long shattered windows for kilometers, injuring a thousand people.

"It's really cool to see a small asteroid come by this close, because we can see the Earth's gravity dramatically bends its trajectory," said Paul Chodas, the director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA.

According to the NASA JPL's calculations, the asteroid turned by about 45 degrees due to Earth's gravitational pull.



Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
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Syria Seeks EU Help to Battle Massive Wildfires

FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS
FILE : A fire burns at a forest in Latakia province, Syria in this handout released by SANA on October 9, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Syria’s minister of emergencies and disaster management on Tuesday requested support from the European Union to battle wildfires that have swept through a vast stretch of forested land.

The fires have been burning for six days, with Syrian emergency crews struggling to bring them under control amid strong winds and severe drought.

Neighboring countries Jordan, Lebanon and Türkiye have already dispatched firefighting teams to assist in the response.

“We asked the European Union for help in extinguishing the fires,” minister Raed al-Saleh said on X, adding Cyprus was expected to send aid on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“Fear of the fires spreading due to strong winds last night prompted us to evacuate 25 families to ensure their safety without any human casualties,” he added.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) office in Syria, the fires impacted “some 5,000 persons, including displacements, across 60 communities.”

An estimated 100 square kilometers (40 square miles) of forest and farmland -- more than three percent of Syria’s forest cover -- have burned, OCHA told AFP.

At least seven towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.

Efforts to extinguish the fires have been hindered by “rugged terrain, the absence of firebreaks, strong winds, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance”, Saleh said.

With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.

In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”