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A 61-foot asteroid is hurtling towards Earth at mind-bending speed of 17748 mph, NASA reveals. It will get very close to Earth today.
Know how close this asteroid today will get to Earth. Reason to worry? NASA clears the air. (Pixabay)
A huge number of asteroids, some newly-discovered, have been zipping by very close to the Earth this week and many more are slated to make close approaches, and even get so near the planet that they will be closer than the Moon! To make sure there is no emergency, NASA is keeping a constant eye on these visiting space rocks. However, despite the best efforts of the US space agency, a number of these asteroids avoid detection by the best instruments and creep up to Earth unnoticed. One just did and it is called Asteroid 2024 MK a 853-foot giant. It will come very close to Earth on June 27. However, we are focused on an asteroid today that is as big as a house at 61 feet.
Meet asteroid 2024 LO5. This massive space rock is all set to make its closest approach today to Earth as it wanders through the solar system on its endless journey.
The asteroid will get as close as 1,220,000 miles of Earth today, on June 25.
This asteroid has been classified as belonging to the Amor group of asteroids and, considering at how close it will get to planet Earth, it has been dubbed as a near-Earth Object (NEO) too.
The asteroid is travelling at a humongous speed of 7.93 km per second or 17748 miles per hour.
NASA has indicated that the asteroid will stick to its orbit and get no nearer than that when it flies by Earth today.
Notably, this is not the only asteroid that will get uncomfortably close to Earth today. Another, even bigger asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth too. Yes, it is virtually raining asteroids! And one can only imagine the fear and panic in the public if both these asteroids were heading for Earth rather than flybys. This asteroid will get as close as 3,270,000 mn km of Earth and it is flying at 4.5 km per second or 10094 miles per hour.
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