NASA‘s Close Encounter: A Bus-Sized Earth Impact Monitoring – NASA”>Asteroid Zooms by Earth
In an exciting celestial event, NASA reports that a bus-sized asteroid is making a close approach to Earth. The asteroid, named 2024 VX3, will zip by our planet this Wednesday evening, August 9, at a safe distance of approximately 92,100 miles (148,200 kilometers). For context, the average distance from Earth to the Moon is 238,900 miles (384,400 kilometers).
classify Asteroid as ‘Nonthreatening’ Despite its proximity, NASA assures us that 2024 VX3 poses no danger. With a diameter of just 20 to 43 feet (6 to 13 meters)— roughly the height of a giraffe or a Brachiosaurus dinosaur—it’s simply too small to cause any harm. In fact, it’s about as threatening as a meteoroid skipping through space.
Recent Close Encounters and the Wider Asteroid Population
This isn’t the only asteroid paying Earth a visit lately. Earlier this week, two others—2024 VO2 and 2020 AB2—also cruised by, though at much greater distances: about 2.7 million miles (4.4 million kilometers) and 4.5 million miles (7.2 million kilometers), respectively.
Later this week, asteroids 2024 VV1 and 2024 UA10 are expected to make their appearances. Among these, 2024 UA10 stands out as the larger one, with a diameter ranging from 78 to 173 feet (24 to 53 meters)—about the size of an airplane. These, too, will keep a safe distance from Earth, at over 4.5 million miles (7.3 million kilometers).
These close-passerby asteroids belong to a category known as Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), celestial bodies that orbit within 30 million miles (48 million kilometers) of our planet. Around 36,000 NEOs have been discovered so far.
While most NEOs are harmless, some larger ones fall under the designation of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). PHAs are at least 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter, have close approaches to Earth, and could pose a threat if their orbits were to change. Fortunately, none of these recent visitors fall into that category.
Stay tuned to NASA and other astronomical agencies for more updates on Earth’s sky-gazing companions.
Source: NASA, Newsweek
