JPL scientists have identified a near-Earth object, 2026 MH, a space rock approximately 25 to 30 feet in diameter. Despite traveling near Earth for months undetected, it was spotted two days ago. It is expected to pass safely between Earth and the Moon on June 21st at approximately 11:08 UTC, maintaining a distance of about 104,000 miles.
James Kaufman, World News Report Today.
Ladies and gentlemen, JPL scientists have just released information
on a rock that they located two days ago,
a space rock, a near-Earth object in the inner solar system.
It's going to come extremely close to Earth,
traveling between Earth and the Moon.
That's going to happen on the 21st in about 48 hours.
We'll look at the exact approach time
or close approach time in just a moment.
Bring you all into what we're looking at here.
The inner solar system is considered Mars, Earth, Venus, and Mercury.
And you can see that it's amazing
that we haven't seen this rock before.
It is at a slight inclination.
It's not flat on the plane here.
And it should, again, have its close approach.
This is kind of messy here.
To Earth, which is going to be right here
also in the blue line on the 21st.
And that is the 21st.
Now, it looks like scientists spotted this 25
to 30-foot diameter rock moving at 4.4 kilometers per second,
about the same speed as Earth, only two days ago.
But look how long it's been moving with Earth.
We're going to have to back this up all the way into May
and see them diverge slightly there.
This thing's been right on us.
Earth is here, and there is 2026 MH.
Again, 2026 MH is the near-Earth object, the space rock.
Hopefully it does not become a meteorite.
Right now it's a meteor.
and again the closer approach is going to be in 48 hours
on the 21st we'll give you an exact time
in just a moment but look how long it's
been traveling next to us without JPL spotting it
pretty scary i thought our radio telescopes would have easily spotted
a rock that large in size
Well, not until two days ago, according to JPL.
They've just released the information today.
That's what I'm getting to y'all today.
Again, 2026 MH.
Let's get some data on this rock.
You know, rocks this size didn't bother me until I saw
that three-foot meteorite hit Boston a few weeks ago.
Wow, it hit offshore and rocked the whole city.
It was that 70-foot meteor that hit over in Russia and, well,
hospitalized thousands of people, but that was much bigger.
This is going to be 25 to 30 feet in diameter.
They think this was just released today, June 19th, solution date.
They've been able to observe the rock 59 times using
their AI automatic software.
I'm sure it spotted the rock in the first place.
This is only over a two-day period.
It's been traveling next to Earth for a month and a half,
two months, and they never saw it.
First observation, 6-17, 48 hours ago.
Last observation, today.
Condition code is rather favorable.
It's a 4.
Although this is coming very close to Earth, it should not hit Earth.
It should quietly pass between Earth and the moon.
Condition code of 0 means they know exactly
where it's headed and how big it is.
Condition code of 9 means they're highly uncertain about how large it
is and where it's headed.
So this is one of the best condition codes I've ever seen.
And with 59 observations, I can see why.
It's scary that they didn't see it until two days ago,
since it's been traveling next to Earth for a couple of months now.
again uh automatic spotted this and we'll get some
close approach timing now all right here's 2026
its close approach on the 21st to earth
and see that it happens at 1108 utc time which is going to
be about 508 in the morning
and they have this thing nailed down plus or minus two seconds
A close approach is going to be, well, right in between
Earth and the moon, 0.0012 astronomical units.
And that's going to be right around 100,000 miles.
I'll give you the exact number in just a second.
It's only moving at 4.4 kilometers per second.
It's one of the slowest space rocks I've seen.
I hope it's a space rock, if you know what I mean.
And I was almost exactly right if you take away
the radius of Earth just about 104,000 miles out.
Sounds like a long way,
but obviously these things usually have companions.
And since they just spotted it after traveling next to us
for two months, it's hard to believe almost anything they say.
But there you have it.
It should pass quietly between Earth and the Moon at about 5
a.m. in the morning Central Time here in the U.S. on the 21st.
God bless, folks.
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