The giant space rocks set to fly past Earth on Friday could cause untold destruction if they ever hit Earth or any other celestial body in the galaxy.
Asteroids will approach Planet Earth on Friday PHOTO: archive
so-called “killer asteroids” giants will pass by Earth within 12 hours after they were first spotted earlier this month.
The space rocks, two of which are the size of an airplane, are large enough to cause untold destruction should they ever come into contact with a planet. The largest of these, asteroid 2002 NV16, measures 176 meters and has enough destructive force to destroy a city.
But experts have little reason to worry about the asteroids, as they will pass within a comfortable distance of Earth. Although they won’t be visible to the naked eye, scientists will notice them as they all pass by until around 4.51pm today, writes mirror.co.uk.
Finn Burridge, astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, told MailOnline: “Scientists can calculate the orbits of near-Earth objects with high precision when they become bright enough to be spotted, and so we know for sure that none of the objects passing by Earth today could collide with the planet.”
He added: ““Today is unusual in that we have seven asteroids, all making a close approach on a small time scale, but there is almost always an asteroid wandering somewhere near Earth.”
NASA said it would classify four of the asteroids as “potentially dangerous“. The first of the asteroids to pass by Earth was 2015 HM1, which flew past us today at around 5:36 am.
When it passed, the space rock came within 5.4 million kilometers of Earth. It was also the smallest of the asteroids, measuring only 30 meters in diameter.
Asteroid 2024 TP17 made its closest approach to Earth this morning at around 9:20am. The size might not seem impressive, but if it were to ever hit Earth, the asteroid would be one of the largest to ever hit the planet.
An asteroid estimated to be smaller than 2024 TP17 exploded over the Siberia region of Russia in 1908. The impact was so powerful that it flattened about 1,355 kilometers of trees.
Burridge told MailOnline: “Almost 200m is a large asteroid, and a direct hit on a city from such a large asteroid would be very bad news. However, it would have to hit Earth near a large population center to be dangerous. If it fell into the Pacific Ocean or the Sarah Desert, we might be fine.”
Both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) continue to monitor asteroids to see if any ever become a major threat to life on Earth. ESA’s Planetary Defense Office conducts regular observations to find “risky space rocks”.
