Five asteroids will fly past Earth in next four days, reveals NASA's watch widget

Written By DNA Web Team | Updated: Jun 08, 2020, 11:40 AM IST

Among five, the two asteroids of size 310 feet and 64 feet will be approaching the Earth on Monday (today).

Five gigantic asteroids will fly right past the Earth over the next four days, said National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

NASA's Asteroid Watch widget to track asteroids and comets shows that the next five Earth approaches are within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers or 19.5 times the distance to the moon). 

Among five, the two asteroids of size 310 feet and 64 feet will be approaching the Earth on Monday. 

As per the widget, an asteroid of 310 feet will have the closest approach of 1,820,000 miles. 

Another asteroid of 64 feet will have the closest approach to planet Earth will be 761,000 miles.

On Wednesday (June 10),  an asteroid of 65 feet is approaching towards the earth and it will flypast earth at a distance of 4,120,000 miles. Another asteroid of 65 feet is approaching towards the earth on June 11 (Thursday) and according to Asteroid Watch widget, its closest approach will be 3,630,000 miles.

On Thursday (June 11), one more asteroid is approaching towards the earth and this celestial body measuring 60 feet will have its closest approach at 2,350,000 miles.

It is to be noted that the average distance between Earth and the moon is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers).

According to NASA, Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets that orbit the Sun, but their orbits bring them into Earth’s neighbourhood — within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit. 

NASA’s Near-Earth Object (NEO) Observations Program finds, tracks, and monitors near-Earth asteroids and comets. 

The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also uses these data to calculate high-precision orbits for all known near-Earth objects and predict future close approaches by them to Earth, as well as the potential for any future impacts by objects from outer space.