NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies or CNEO has confirmed that there are indeed six new asteroids approaching the Earth this week.

Six Asteroids Coming Towards Earth

According to CNEO, the first asteroid that will be close enough to Earth's orbit is the smallest of the six asteroids and is called the 2020 FF, which has an estimated diameter of 85 feet and travels at a speed of 13,000 miles per hour.

Look to the Sky! NASA Finds 6 Asteroids Approaching Earth This Week!
(Photo : Родион Журавлёв from Pixabay)
The six asteroids will be flying past Earth's neighborhood this week.

The 2020 FF should be at its closest to Earth on Mar. 24 at exactly 12:06 am EDT and will be approximately 3.8 million miles away.

Although the asteroids will be so much further away from our planet, these space rocks are rather close to Earth when we think about the vastness of the universe. However, they shouldn't pose much threat to us, so we should be safe and may even witness these asteroids as they pass by us.

Next on the list is 2020 FB that is much bigger than the first at 177 feet, but is slower at 10,000 miles per hour. It will fly past our home on Mar. 25, a day after the first asteroid, at 12:02 pm EDT.

The second asteroid should be around 2 million miles away from us at its closest.

A day after, on Mar. 26, a third asteroid will follow 2020 FB and should be at its closest at 7:39 pm EDT at approximately 3.5 million miles away.

The third asteroid, known as 2020 FP, is slightly smaller than 2020 FB, but still bigger than 2020 FF at 128 feet. Nevertheless, it's much faster than both and approaching our planet at a speed of around 21,000 miles per hour.

Read Also: STARGAZING! Here's When and How You Can Watch 2020's Rare 'Micro' Moon This Week!

The Biggest of the Six

The fourth and the biggest asteroid of the six is known as 2012 XA133, which TechTimes has recently reported as taller than the Empire State Building at 1,280 feet wide. 

Despite its size, it's hurtling towards our planet at a speed of 53,000 miles per hour, so we can expect to see this massive rock fly by us on Mar. 26 at 10:52 pm EDT.

With its terrifying size and speed, should we be worried?

Fortunately, NASA believes that the space rock will be no threat to Earth and that there will unlikely be no large objects that could collide with our planet for the next several hundred years, as per Daily Mail.

Additionally, asteroid 2012 XA133 should be around 4.1 million miles away from our planet.

The Last Two Space Rocks

After the big chunk of space rock, 2020 FE2 will follow and is far smaller than 2012 XA133 as per NASA's data. It should only be around 148 feet with a speed of 16,000 miles per hour, so it'll fly by us on Mar. 28, 8:13 am EDT.

But, despite its size, 2020, FE2 will be so far the closest of the six asteroids as it will fly by at around 1 million miles away from us at its closest.

Last on the list is the 2010 GD35, which will be at its closest on Mar. 29 at 2:19 pm EDT and is 233 feet wide with a speed of 27,000 miles per hour and should be about 3.6 million miles away from our home.

Read Also: Want to Be an Astronaut? A Wannabe Shares How to Train Like One in This Time of Social Distancing

ⓒ 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Join the Discussion