An asteroid the size of a house is approaching Earth today, followed by two other smaller celestial bodies.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) issued a warning for the three asteroids, the closest of which will come within 192,000 miles of Earth – 48,000 miles closer than the moon is currently to us.
The size and proximity of the asteroids may provide astronomers with a unique research opportunity as they work to create a defense system that will prevent future space rocks from hitting Earth.
Three asteroids are headed for Earth’s orbit, and NASA predicts one will come closer than the moon
The smallest asteroid, called 2024 TA12, measures about 14 feet and will come between Earth and the moon.
Meanwhile, bus-sized asteroids named 2021 TK11 and 2024 TH3 — about the size of a house — will approach Earth from 1.9 million miles and 2.8 million miles away, respectively.
However, NASA has confirmed that the asteroids will not come close enough to our planet and ‘therefore pose no risk of impact.’
These asteroids are categorized as Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) because they come within 120 million miles of the Sun thanks to the gravitational pull of other nearby planets.
As more asteroids are observed, the accuracy with which astronomers can predict where an object will be years or decades into the future improves dramatically.
Asteroids are also called Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) because they come within 120 million miles of the Sun
This means scientists would be able to more accurately determine whether asteroids will come close to or collide with Earth, preventing another catastrophe like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
Although none of the impending asteroids pose a major threat, NASA is preparing for a worst-case scenario by studying NEOs.
NASA established its Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) in 2016 to locate, track and better understand comets and asteroids ‘that could pose an impact hazard to Earth’.
The agency developed the Near-Earth Object Surveyor (NEO Surveyor) space telescope, which is due to launch in 2027 to detect and characterize potentially hazardous asteroids that come within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit.