[Title]: Several House-Sized Asteroids to Pass by Earth in the Coming Days
[Subtitle]: NASA Monitors Close Approaches of Potentially Hazardous Objects
[Word Count: 335]
In the next few days, Earth will have some close encounters with a series of asteroids, with one of them being the size of a house. Named JA5, this approximately 60-feet long space rock is set to pass by our planet on Wednesday, but scientists assure there is nothing to worry about as it will miss Earth by a safe distance of 3.17 million miles.
NASA, the U.S. space agency, classifies asteroids and comets larger than 500 feet that come within 4.7 million miles of Earth as “potentially hazardous objects” (PHOs). Luckily, JA5 does not fall into this category, although its size is nothing to be taken lightly.
Accompanying JA5 in this celestial parade are four other space rocks. Ranging from 26 to 170 feet in size, these asteroids have been likened to airplanes or buses by NASA. On Friday, the 83-foot long QC5, which is as long as an airplane, will pass by Earth at a distance of about 2.53 million miles. Joining QC5 on the same day is the 26-foot asteroid 2020 GE, which will be around 3.56 million miles away from our planet.
However, the most prominent event will take place on Sunday. The largest and closest asteroid in the group, QE8, is predicted to come within one million miles of Earth. Following closely behind is QF6, measuring in at 68 feet, at a distance of 1.65 million miles on the same day. It is worth noting that both QE8 and QF6 were discovered only this year.
These close encounters serve as a reminder of the constant vigilance needed to monitor asteroids near Earth. NASA has already identified over 32,000 asteroids within close proximity to our planet as of last week. To put these distances into perspective, the average distance between Earth and the moon is about 239,000 miles, according to NASA.
In conclusion, as these space rocks pass by Earth in the coming days, astronomers and space enthusiasts alike will be observing these fascinating celestial events. While their sizes may be awe-inspiring, there is no immediate danger posed by these asteroids as they continue their journeys through our solar system.
