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Five asteroids are going to pass near the Earth on Saturday, April 13. Three of them are bus-sized and two are airplane-sized. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the American space agency NASA has shared the details of these five asteroids on its website. Here’s all you need to know about them and the timing of their fly-past.
Also read: Earth to be hit by more than 100 Vatican City, Burj Khalifa-sized asteroids in 2023: NASA’s top goals unveiled
1. Asteroid 2024 GV3: Among the five asteroids, this asteroid will reach closest to the Earth on Saturday. It will fly at a distance of 5,10,000 km from the Earth. It is noteworthy that the average distance between the Earth and the Moon is about 3,85,000 kilometers. It is a “bus-sized” asteroid, about 21-feet wide. It belongs to the Apollo group.
2. Asteroid 2024 GT2: It will pass at a distance of 8,77,000 km from the Earth. It is 37 feet wide (bus size) and belongs to the Apollo group.
3. Asteroid 2024 FP3: It will pass at a distance of 10,20,000 km from the Earth. It is 68 feet wide (airplane shaped) and belongs to the Apollo group.
4. Asteroid 2021 GQ5: It will pass at a distance of 33,70,000 km from the Earth. It is 22 feet wide (bus size) and belongs to the Aten group.
5. Asteroid 2021 GE3: It will come close to the Earth at a distance of 38,10,000 km. It is 69 feet wide (airplane shaped) and belongs to the Apollo group.
what are asteroids
Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago, NASA said. Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets.
Should we worry about asteroids hitting Earth?
There are no known side effects. Small meteorites keep burning in the Earth’s atmosphere all the time. NASA reported that most near-Earth objects have orbits that do not bring them too close to Earth, and so there is no risk of collision.
However, a small fraction of them – called potentially hazardous asteroids – require more attention. “These objects are defined as asteroids that are greater than about 460 feet (140 meters) in size and their orbits bring them as close as 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers) to Earth’s orbit around the Sun, ” It said.
“Asteroids capable of causing global disaster upon impact with Earth are extremely rare. Their diameter will probably be about a kilometer or more. Such bodies impact Earth on average only once every 100,000 years. Other objects of similar size, Like comets, impact even less frequently, perhaps once every 500,000 years,” it adds.
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Published: April 13, 2024, 08:22 PM IST
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