Is It A Bird? Is It A Plane?- No, It’s A Giant Asteroid!

NASA: A Giant Asteroid Is Fast Approaching Earth

Asteroids pose the most significant danger for planet Earth as far as extraterrestrial activity is concerned. However, thanks to the earth’s atmosphere, most asteroids start burning up on entry into the planet, some dissociating before reaching the earth’s surface.

 According to Cosmos Magazine, planet Earth is hit by about 6,100 meteors that are large enough to reach the ground. That brings the tally to about 17 every day, with most of these falling in uninhabited areas hence why you might not get news of their ‘arrival.’

Other than studying the solar system, space agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are also tasked with monitoring near-earth objects (NEOs) that have the potential to endanger the planet if they enter the earth’s atmosphere. NASA, in particular, does this through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) watch board, NASA issues notice and alerts in advance for probable hazardous asteroids approaching the Earth.

In recent weeks, the JPL has provided a notice that several asteroids will be passing near the earth in the coming days. According to the information, there are five asteroids, and they will be relatively close encounters, considering their predicted closest approach to the planet. The biggest of these asteroids is called 2023 FZ3, a 150-foot-wide rock.

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Here Are the Oncoming Asteroids:

2023 FU6. At 45 feet, this is the smallest of the lot, approaching on April 3rd. Its closest distance to the planet will be 1,870,000 km.

2023 FS11. This is an 82-foot-sized asteroid that will also approach the planet on April 3rd. Its closest distance to the planet will be 6,610,000 km. To put this in perspective, this asteroid is about the size of a seven-story building.

2023 FA7. This is a 92-foot rock that will make its closest approach to the planet on April 4th at 2,250,000 km.

2023 FQ7. This is a 65-foot-sized asteroid that will make its closest approach to Earth on April 5th at a distance of 5,750,000 km.

2023 FZ3: This is by far the largest of these asteroids. At 150 feet, it is almost the size of a football field, including the end zones. The asteroid is projected to pass by Earth on April 6th. Its closest point to Earth will be 4,190,000 km. It will be traveling at high speeds of 67656 mph.

Now, I’d like to answer the all-important question. Do these asteroids posit any danger to the planet? According to HTTech, a subset of potentially hazardous asteroids demand extra scrutiny and tracking.

These asteroids are at least 460 feet in size and are as close as 7.5 million kilometers from the planet. While the asteroids mentioned above are indeed relatively close to the Earth, they are also relatively small.

Hence, all the asteroids above, even the ‘giant’ 150-foot 2023 FZ3, are NOT potentially hazardous to Earth.