In an intriguing celestial event, two large asteroids, classified as “potentially hazardous,” are set to fly past Earth this week, within a gap of just 42 hours.
What Happened: These asteroids, despite their potentially hazardous classification, do not pose any imminent threat to the planet. They will safely fly past Earth at thousands of miles per hour, with absolutely no risk of collision, as confirmed by the European Space Agency, Business Insider reported on Thursday.
The larger of the duo, Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21, is one of the biggest asteroids to have recently come close to Earth. It is part of a class of celestial bodies known as “planet killers.” LiveScience reported that if one were to collide with Earth, it could cause damage on a continental scale and potentially result in significant climatic changes for many years. With an estimated diameter of approximately 1.4 miles, it surpasses 99% of all known near-Earth objects in size. This asteroid, however, will maintain a safe distance of over 4 million miles from Earth.
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The second asteroid, 2024 MK, identified just 13 days ago, is significantly smaller, with an estimated diameter ranging between 390 and 885 feet. Despite its smaller size, it is anticipated to be one of the brightest objects of its kind observed in recent times due to its close distance of 184,000 miles from Earth.
Although these asteroids will not be visible to the naked eye, individuals equipped with a telescope or binoculars may be able to spot them, as per Gianluca Masi, astrophysicist and founder of The Virtual Telescope Project. The live stream of both the asteroids will be hosted by The Virtual Telescope Project on their website.
The first asteroid will fly past Earth on Thursday, June 27, starting at 4:00 p.m. ET while the second one breeze past on Saturday, June 29, starting at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Why It Matters: The flyby of these asteroids comes amid growing concerns about Earth’s readiness to handle potential asteroid impacts. In June, NASA expressed worries about humanity’s preparedness for a potential asteroid impact, based on findings from the fifth biennial Planetary Defense Interagency Tabletop Exercise. While there are no known threats of this kind at present, the exercise revealed significant gaps in our readiness to respond to an asteroid threat, even with ample warning time.
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Photo by buradaki on Shutterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
