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On Saturday, an asteroid, which could be nearly 600 feet wide, will fly over the Earth and pass us at speeds of over 29,000 miles per hour.
The asteroid, designated 2020 TY1, was first discovered in October. It is expected to fly over at a distance of about 3.5 million miles, which is about 14 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon and therefore does not pose a danger to our planet.
It is one of the largest asteroids that have crossed Earth in the past few weeks, and the last asteroid of similar size passed on October 22. Pyramid of Giza, which is 455 feet high.
Despite having passed the Earth for millions of miles, in 2020 TY1 is considered a NEO (Near-Earth Object). NASA is monitoring the orbits of these objects to support the Agency’s Department of Planetary Defense. This initiative allows NASA to detect and track potentially dangerous objects, defined as anything within a radius of five million miles from Earth and over 100 feet wide. An object this size or larger can potentially cause significant damage to Earth, NASA says.
On November 2, an asteroid arrived incredibly close to Earth in astronomical terms, passing at a distance of around 4,000 miles. Before it approached Earth, astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson said the asteroid, 2018 VP1, would “cut” the Earth. “It’s not big enough to cause damage,” he wrote, “so if the world ends in 2020, it’s not the universe’s fault.
This asteroid, which was up to 12 feet wide, has come closer to Earth in the past 12 months according to data from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).
Another asteroid will also pass over Earth on Saturday, with the 2019 XS designated object overtaking us at a distance of approximately 3.4 million miles. This object is estimated to be up to 280 feet wide.
At the end of the month, a huge asteroid will approach Earth. The object, designated 2000 WO107, is up to 2,690 feet wide. It will fly over Earth on November 29, exactly 20 years after its discovery. The 2000 WO107 is expected to pass a minimum distance of 2.7 million miles and travel at speeds of approximately 56,000 miles per hour.
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