If the global COVID-19 pandemic didn't already ruin 2020, the year has been experiencing many incidents. You have heard of different terrifying things happening, which will not be stated here since you know of them already.
This month, there will be a handful of asteroids that will come close to hitting Earth. There will be enormous space boulders that will fly by close to our home planet.
If you look at NASA's Near-Earth Object browser at the Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies, you'll see that three asteroids are heading towards us that will come in close range, starting in a few days on June 6.
The First Asteroid, The Largest
The first asteroid is a giant space rock, and it's the asteroid 2002 NN4. It will be the first of three massive asteroids that will be breaching the Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance, which is 0.05 astronomical units. The Near-Earth Object Close Approach data table says that this asteroid will be closest to the Earth as it will be at 3:30 AM UTC on June 6.
The closest distance that the first asteroid will reach is 0.034 astronomical units. Astronomers consider this asteroid to be especially deadly at the broadest part of the asteroid. The asteroid's broadest part's diameter reaches up to 570 meters, which is as long as more than four football fields combined by their ends.
When the asteroid is flying by Earth, the asteroid's relative velocity is over 40,000 kilometers per hour.
It would be best if you didn't worry about the asteroid hitting Earth, though. Asteroid 2002 NN4 has been identified as being a safe distance away. The closest point the asteroid will be to Earth is more than 13 times the distance from here on Earth to the moon.
Read Also : Watch as Scientists Simulate The Killer Asteroid That Caused The Extinction Of The Dinosaurs in 3D
The Second Asteroid, The Closest
The second asteroid that will be passing our planet after the first one is the asteroid 2013 XA22. The asteroid will breach the Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance at 3:40 PM UTC on June 8.
It will be closer to the Earth than the first asteroid, and it will reach as close as 0.019 astronomical units to the Earth. This asteroid, however, is significantly smaller than the first asteroid. The broadest part of this asteroid is around 160 meters.
When the asteroid flies by the Earth, the asteroid's relative velocity will reach about 24,000 kilometers per hour.
The Third Asteroid, The Fastest
The third asteroid that will be flying by the Earth is the asteroid 2010 NY65, and astronomers have studied this asteroid thoroughly because of its proximal orbit to the Earth. It was discovered about ten years ago. The asteroid will pass by Earth at 6:44 AM UTC on June 24. It will breach the Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance at a distance of 0.025 astronomical units from the Earth.
This third asteroid's size is in the middle of the first and second asteroid in terms of its diameter. The broadest part of this asteroid is around 310 meters.
What this asteroid excels in is its speed. It will have the fastest relative velocity of more than 46,000 kilometers per hour. This speed is the highest among the three most massive asteroids flying by the Earth this month.
