‘City killer’ asteroid is one of 4 to graze Earth’s orbit today
These four rock stars are embarking on a world tour.
NASA has announced that an airplane-sized “city killer” asteroid will skim past Earth today — one of four “hazardous” space rocks to graze our orbit in less than 12 hours.
Dubbed 2002 NV16, the cosmic boulder is slated to pass within a minimum distance of 2.8 million miles of our planet at around 11:47 a.m. EST on Thursday, LiveScience reported.
It is the largest of the interstellar quartet, measuring 580 feet in diameter — slightly smaller than the Washington Monument.
Two of these asteroids — 2024 TP17 and 2024 TR6 — were only discovered earlier this month, just weeks before their “world tour.” Getty Images
Following close behind will be the 150-foot-wide asteroid 2024 TR6, which will pass within 3.5 million miles of Earth just a few minutes later at 11:51 a.m. EST — a celestial two-fer, one could say.
The other two intergalactic gravel stones — 2015 HM1 and 2024 TP17 — already made their fly-bys at 12:36 a.m. and 4:20 a.m. respectively with the former coming within 3.4 million miles and the latter reaching within 2.9 million.
These distances might seem far off by Earth’s standards. However, all four space rocks are deemed potentially hazardous because they’re soaring within 30 million miles of our planet.
And while most wouldn’t inflict widespread damage should they hit, 2002 NV16 is big enough to wipe a major metropolis off the map (hence the name “city killer) and cause ripple effects throughout the planet.
Fortunately, we don’t have to brace for armageddon as none are on a collision course with Earth.
“Scientists can calculate the orbits of Near Earth Objects to a high precision when they get bright enough to spot and so we know for certain that none of the objects passing Earth today could collide with the planet,” UK astronomer Finn Burridge told the Daily Mail.
The largest asteroid of the incoming quartet, 2002 NV16 (pictured), will reach a minimum distance of 2.8 million miles from Earth, which is slightly closer than the other three space rocks will get to us. NASA/JPL
Despite not posing an imminent threat, two of these asteroids — 2024 TP17 and 2024 TR6—were only discovered earlier this month, just weeks before their “world tour,” the Daily Galaxy reported.
In fact, an alarming number of asteroids are spotted just before passing by Earth.
This is disconcerting given that around 2,000 near-Earth asteroids — defined by NASA as measuring larger than 460 feet across and boasting orbits that bring them within 4.6 million miles from Earth’s orbit around the sun — are discovered every year, per the Catalina Sky Survey.
If they were to hit, the effect would be catastrophic.
Fortunately, scientists are able to use these “near misses” to capture radar images of the asteroids, potentially gleaning insight into their future orbits.
This data would theoretically allow them to better predict when they’ll approach Earth in the future and thereby determine if they’re slated to rock our world.
In fact, two members of the aforementioned rock quartet are slated to make even closer fly-bys in the coming decades.
2024 TR6 will return on August 5, 2039, this time coming within a much closer distance of just 1.2 million miles.
Meanwhile, 2024 TP17’s comeback tour is slated for October 25, 2040, when it will pass within 1.3 million miles.
