The asteroid, named Asteroid 2022 OE2, passed Earth in the early morning hours of August 4 at 12:23 am. (ET). Although NASA astronomers screen all near-Earth objects (NEOs) for potential danger to Earth, Asteroid 2022 OE2 managed to elude them and was discovered just a few days ago. The asteroid passed Earth at a distance of almost 5.1 million kilometers. Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are tracked by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, which monitors the sky with telescopes and tracks incoming flybys. Tracking these NEOs has become relatively easy with the advancement of technology. With the help of advanced telescopes, more than 750,000 asteroids have been discovered to date, of which more than 27,000 are near-Earth asteroids. The asteroid was between 557 and 1,246 feet wide, which is twice the length of an American football field. It was confirmed to belong to the Apollo asteroid group which are near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) with perihelion distances less than 1,017 AU, and semimajor axis greater than 1 AU. This is not the first time an asteroid has passed close to Earth this year. On May 9, asteroid Asteroid 467460 (2006 JF42) flew close to Earth. Then, on April 28, asteroid 418135 (2008 AG33) passed our planet. Just a few days ago, an asteroid named Asteroid 2022 OX3 passed Earth at close range at 6:45 p.m. on August 2.
