[Regnum] Two asteroids the size of the Chelyabinsk meteorite will pass near Earth within 24 hours. The Solar Activity Laboratory of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences reported this on May 18 on its Telegram channel.
According to the report, asteroids 2026 JH2 and 2026 KB were discovered on May 10 and 13, measuring approximately 20 m, making them complete twins of the famous Chelyabinsk meteorite that fell in the region on February 15, 2013.
Scientists clarified that the first rock will pass approximately 230,000 km from Earth, with its closest approach occurring at 6:15 PM Moscow time, while the second will approach to within 91,000 km at 1:00 AM Moscow time on May 19. This distance will become the minimum for objects of this size in 2026, the astronomers added.
How many Stacy Abrams is that?
At the same time, the Solar Activity Laboratory emphasized that both bodies do not pose a danger to Earth, since their trajectory passes by the planet and cannot change.
Last November, Nathan Eismont, a leading researcher at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an associate professor in the Department of Mechanics and Control Processes at RUDN University, reported that the brightest comet of the 20th century, Comet Hale-Bopp, would be unable to escape the Solar System and would approach Earth again in 4390. According to the scientist, in this situation, everything would depend on Jupiter, whose gravity could either eject the comet from the solar system or send it into the Sun, where it would burn up.