NASA has issued a warning that five asteroids are scheduled to pass earth during the 17th and 18th of September 2024, named 2024 ON, 2024 RY10, 2024 RR16, 2024 FW13 and 2024 RZ13. Professionals are curious about the following asteroids and keeping a close eye on their movements to ensure safety.
The most recent huge asteroid that passed the earth surface in a close encounter was 2024 ON. On July 27, ATLAS Sky Survey discovered the huge rock. Scientists were concerned about its speed, but it safely passed the earth on Tuesday, 17 September. Nasa’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program kept supervising the event through the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California, to ensure the necessary proceedings and study the shape, size, and composition of the asteroid. The space phenomenon was live-streamed on virtualtelescope.eu/webtv.
The latest upcoming concern is 2024 FW 13, a giant, skyscraper-sized asteroid approaching the earth at a speed of 35,000 mph. It is being continuously monitored by the authorities at JPL even though it does not pose a threat. It will roughly pass from the earth at a distance of 2,020,000 miles.
Key highlights of the 2024 asteroids
Name of the Asteroid | Size(approx.) | Passing Distance from the Earth | Date of the passing | Update |
2024 ON | 950 feet | 621,000 miles | 17 September 2024 | Safely passed |
2024 RY10 | 51 feet | 1,100,000 km | 17 September 2024 | Safely passed |
2024 RR16 | 53 feet | 3,610,000 miles | 17 September 2024 | Safely passed |
2024 RZ13 | 51 feet | 3,950,000 km | 18 September 2024 | Safely passed |
2013 FW13 | 510 feet | 2,020,000 miles | 18 September 2024 | Incoming at a speed of 35,000 mph |
There are approximately more than 1.3 million asteroids in the solar system. According to NASA, objects that come within 4.6 million miles of Earth and are larger than 492 feet are considered a threat. Although these occurrences are common space phenomena, they still pose a threat and need to be monitored on a regular basis. “Such similar close encounters happen once every 10 years,” reported the JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).