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Santa isn’t the only one flying through the skies this season. NASA has announced five asteroid approaches.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) recently revealed details about the “next five asteroid approaches” to Earth.
As NASA works on plans to retrieve a $10 quintillion asteroid, smaller space rocks are making their way past Earth. Among them, an asteroid known as 2024 XN1 will pass by tonight (December 23).
This asteroid, roughly the size of an airplane at 120 feet, will reach its closest point to Earth at 10 PM EST.
According to MailOnline, the asteroid will zip past Earth at a staggering speed of 14,743 mph.
Despite the high speed, there’s no reason for concern.
Asteroid Passing at a Safe Distance
The closest approach of 2024 XN1 will be approximately 4,480,000 miles from Earth.
Astronomer Jess Lee from the Royal Greenwich Observatory assured MailOnline, “It will be very far away, around 18 times further than the Moon is from Earth. With this predicted path, it won’t come close enough to hit Earth.”
Assistant professor of space and international relations at Johns Hopkins University explained to Newsweek why these objects are called “near-Earth objects” (NEOs). NEOs are asteroids or comets with a perihelion distance—closest approach to the Sun—of less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU), which equals about 120 million miles.
An asteroid is considered “potentially hazardous” if its orbit crosses Earth’s orbit by less than 0.05 AU, or about 4.5 million miles. Martin Barstow, a professor of astrophysics and space science at the University of Leicester, added that an asteroid also needs an absolute brightness of 22.0 or less to pose significant regional damage.
“Not all NEOs are potentially hazardous, but all hazardous objects are NEOs,” Barstow stated.
Upcoming Asteroid Flybys
If you miss tonight’s event, don’t worry—more asteroids are on their way.
On Christmas Day, an asteroid the size of a bus will fly by Earth. Another, the size of an airplane, is expected to pass on Boxing Day. Finally, a second bus-sized asteroid will make its flyby the day after Boxing Day.
Stay tuned for more updates as these space rocks continue their celestial journeys.
