Four asteroids will make their closest approaches to Earth on Thursday (Oct 24) one after the other within a span of 12 hours. Two of these asteroids were discovered just this month, one of them only about a week back. Of the “potentially hazardous” space rocks, one is as tall as a skyscraper. Do they pose any threat to Earth?
The first asteroid to fly past the planet will be 2015 HM1, the smallest of the four space rocks. It measures around 100 feet across and will be at its nearest point to Earth at around 0:36 am ET, or 10:06 am IST. As per NASA’s Asteroid Watch dashboard, it will be 5.5 million kilometres from us.
The final two asteroids 2002 NV16 and 2024 TR6 will make their closest approaches within just four minutes of each other.
The second asteroid is 2024 TP17 which is roughly 170-foot wide. It will make its closest approach at around 4:20 am ET, or 1:50 pm IST and will be at a distance of 4.7 million km from our planet.
The other two asteroids will zoom past Earth within just four minutes of each other. Space rock 2002 NV16 and 2024 TR6 will take back-to-back trips past our planet.
The 2002 NV16 asteroid is the largest of the four and measures 580 feet across. It will reach a minimum distance of 4.5 million km at around 11:47 a.m. ET, or 9:17 pm IST. The fourth asteroid, the 150-foot-wide 2024 TR6, will follow soon after. It will come within 5.6 million km of Earth at 11:51 am ET, or 9:21 pm IST.
Asteroids 2024 TR6 and 2024 TP17 were discovered on Oct 7 and Oct 12, respectively.
Two of the asteroids will return
Astronomers discover almost 2,000 near-Earth objects every year, most of them just as they are about to come close to the planet. Asteroids classified as “potentially hazardous” are those whose orbits bring them within 48 million km of Earth.
NASA regularly checks for asteroids that might pose a threat to Earth. Most of these objects aren’t big enough or don’t come close enough to cause damage. However, 2002 NV16 is quite massive and if it were on a trajectory to impact Earth, it could wipe out a large city besides affecting the entire planet.
Notably, 2024 TR6 will return on Aug 5, 2039, and fly past Earth at a much closer distance of 1.9 million km. Asteroids 2024 TP17 will also make a comeback on Oct 25, 2040, and make a close approach at a minimum distance of 2.1 million km.
The article originally appeared on Republic.