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130ft asteroid going faster than an intercontinental ballistic missile to pass Earth tomorrow, says NASA

Home> Science> Space

Published 12:52 29 Jan 2024 GMT

130ft asteroid going faster than an intercontinental ballistic missile to pass Earth tomorrow, says NASA

Just how worried should we be about this massive asteroid?

Prudence Wade

Prudence Wade

If you ever want to feel insignificant, you can take a shortcut right there by checking out what asteroids are set to pass Earth in the next few weeks.

NASA has a helpful site designed to get you up to speed on the next five pass-by events, and it's confirmed that there's one due tomorrow, on January 30.

As is the case with most asteroids, its name is far from catchy - this one is called 2007 EG.

Science Photo Library - ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI / Getty

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The physics involved are slightly terrifying to the layperson, too - the asteroid is about 130ft, roughly the size of an airplane, and while it shouldn't get much closer than 3,800,000 miles away from the Earth's surface, it'll do so going insanely fast.

Those are frankly frightening numbers, so it might be best to keep hold of that 3.8 million-mile distance in your mind - there's practically no risk whatsoever of this asteroid hitting our planet.

For a bit more perspective, NASA reminds us that the Moon is about 239,000 miles away from Earth - so this next asteroid will be way, way further out from our planet than even that.

In more good news, 2007 EG isn't classified as a 'potentially hazardous object' as it's not larger than 500 feet in size.

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Still, if you scroll down the list of the next five encounters, you'll see that there are others coming a good chunk closer in the next few days.

Indeed, on February 1 there will be an asteroid within around 1.57 million miles of our surface, albeit one that is around half the size of 2007 EG. Dubbed 2024 BY (we told you the names weren't catchy), at 62ft it's around the size of a house.

Ignatiev / Getty

That's not the only bit of excitement happening on February 1 - on the same day another airplane-sized asteroid will zoom by us, coming 2.06 million miles at its closest approach.

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The biggest asteroid on the list will be passing by 1.77 miles away on February 2 - that's 2008 OS7, and at 890 feet it's about the size of a stadium.

The good news is that continuing to study these asteroids and their trajectories is all useful work for NASA and other space agencies, helping them to more accurately predict the paths of objects in the future so that we can continue to rely on estimates and avoid unnecessary panic over asteroids that won't actually get near the planet.

Still, if you'd rather have one eye on what's coming, be sure to bookmark that NASA page and check back, as it should stay updated as new asteroids get closer.

Featured Image Credit: Liam Thompson/ YouTube
Nasa
Space

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