NASA is keeping a close eye on three giant asteroids that are set to make close approaches to Earth today.
One of them will come within just 77,200 miles of our planet, which is roughly one-third of the average distance between Earth and the moon.
That asteroid, called ‘2025 CF,’ is an estimated 12 feet wide and has not had a close encounter with Earth since 2013.
The space rock will make another fly-by of our planet in January 2033.
The other two space rocks, 2025 CD and 2025 CE, are an estimated 22 feet and 43 feet wide, respectively.
That makes each of them approximately the size of a bus, but they will keep further away from our planet when they pass by today.
Asteroid 2025 CD’s closest approach will be 396,000 miles, and 2025 CE’s will be 680,000 miles.
Two more bus-sized asteroids will also zip through Earth’s cosmic neighborhood today, but will remain millions of miles away.
NASA is keeping a close eye on three vehicle-sized asteroids that will make close approaches to Earth today
These recently discovered space rocks likely hail from the main asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter.
According to NASA, more than one million asteroids travel around the sun within this belt, following elliptical orbits and often rotating erratically as they go.
Occasionally, the massive gravitational force of Jupiter can pull asteroids out of the belt and send them hurtling in random directions.
Sometimes they shoot toward the inner solar system and enter Earth’s vicinity, encountering our planet in what’s known as a ‘fly-by.’
These fly-bys are harmless the vast majority of the time. None of the asteroids that will approach Earth today pose any threat to our planet, according to NASA.
But the agency’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office always keeps a watchful eye on any Near Earth Objects (NEOs), including asteroids, to monitor their impact risk.
Recently, the agency detected one space rock that does have a slight chance of hitting Earth in the near future.
That asteroid, called 2024 YR4, is estimated to be nearly 200 feet wide and currently has a more than one percent chance of directly hitting Earth on December 22, 2023, according to NASA.
One of them will come within just 77,200 miles of our planet, which is roughly one third of the average distance between Earth and the moon
Astronomers have also calculated a predicted impact zone that stretches from South America across the Atlantic Ocean to sub-Saharan Africa.
The asteroid has the potential to cause significant damage, especially if it lands in a densely populated area like a major city.
Astronomers believe it is roughly the same size as the Tunguska asteroid, which entered Earth’s atmosphere and exploded in the air over Siberia in 1908.
The blast was equivalent to detonating 50 million tons of TNT.
If 2024 YR4 infiltrates Earth’s atmosphere, it could cause a similar event, astronomers say.
Alternatively, it could remain intact during the descent and slam into the ground, creating a massive crater and decimating human communities in the impact zone.
But the odds of a direct-hit are very slim, with astronomers estimating a 1.2 to 1.3 percent chance.
It is much more likely that 2024 YR4 safely whizzes by our planet just like these three smaller asteroids will today.
Astronomers have calculated a predicted impact zone for 2024 YR4 that stretches from South America across the Atlantic Ocean to sub-Saharan Africa.
Analysis of 2024 YR4’s orbit indicates that the asteroid will come within 66,000 miles of Earth on December 22, 2032. Though there is a slight chance it could hit Earth, it is much more likely that this asteroid safely passes by our planet, astronomers say
That’s not to say that a large asteroid could never impact our planet though, which is why NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office is developing strategies to protect Earth from an incoming threat.
The agency’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission launched from California in November 2021 and finally completed its 10-month journey when it hit the asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022.
Dimorphos, around 560 feet in diameter, orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos, both of which are around 6.8 million miles away from our planet.
DART hit the space rock at more than 14,000 miles per hour and was destroyed upon impact, while Dimorphos received a ‘small nudge’ intended to alter its trajectory by a fraction.
The mission demonstrated that the kinetic impactor technique – which involves deliberately ramming a spacecraft into an asteroid – is an effective way to alter an asteroid’s trajectory.
In the event that a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) were headed towards Earth, NASA could one day use this technique to save our planet.
But scientists are still studying DART’s aftermath to ensure that NASA could do this safely.
That’s why the European Space Agency (ESA) is launched the Hera mission in October last year.
The Hera spacecraft is currently on its way to Dimorphos to perform a detailed survey of the damage and debris created by the DART.
This will help astronomers on Earth verify that the kinetic impactor technique can be used safely and responsibly to save our planet from an approaching asteroid.
