5 asteroids approaching Earth, massive 150-Foot 2023 FZ3 on Apr 6: NASA
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Earth will have some relatively close encounters with asteroids in the coming days, warns the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory noted that five asteroids will approach the planet, with two of them making their closest approaches to Earth today.
NASA's Asteroid Watch dashboard which monitors asteroids and comets that will approach Earth displays the date of closest approach, approximate object diameter, relative size and distance from Earth for each encounter.
Asteroids pose a significant danger to Earth as a collision with one could result in a massive disaster for human life. While most asteroids that enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn up and disintegrate before they reach the surface, some larger ones can cause significant damage.
A small 45-foot asteroid named 2023 FU6 is approaching the Earth today at a distance of 1,870,000 km. Another 82-foot aeroplane-sized asteroid named 2023 FS11, will also fly past Earth by a close margin of 6,610,000 km today.
Asteroid 2023 FA7, a 92-foot asteroid the size of an aeroplane will make its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 2,250,000 km on April 4.
Asteroid 2023 FQ7, a 65-foot house-sized asteroid will approach the Earth at a distance of 5,750,000 km on April 5.
The largest among the asteroids, named 2023 FZ3, which is the size of an aeroplane is projected to pass by Earth on April 6. The 150-foot-wide rock which is hurtling towards Earth at a terrifying speed of 67656 kmph will make its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 4,190,000 km. However, the asteroid is not a potentially hazardous threat to Earth.
Around 30,000 asteroids of all sizes including more than 850 larger than a kilometre wide have been catalogued in the vicinity of the Earth, earning them the label "Near Earth Objects" (NEOs). None of them threatens the Earth for the next 100 years.
According to NASA, asteroids are left over from the formation of our solar system. Our solar system began about 4.6 billion years ago when a big cloud of gas and dust collapsed. When this happened, most of the material fell to the centre of the cloud and formed the sun. Some of the condensing dust in the cloud became planets.
Recently, NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office said that a newly discovered asteroid roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool has a "small chance" of colliding with Earth on Valentine's Day 23 years from now.
