Nasa on alert as airplane-sized 120-foot asteroid to approach Earth on Christmas eve
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Multiple asteroids are set to make relatively close approaches to Earth in the coming days. The largest among the five on Nasa Asteroid watch, asteroid (2024 XN1), is about 120 feet wide i.e. around a size of an airplane.
The asteroid (2024 XN1) is set to make its closest approach to Earth on December 24 at approximately 02.57 TDB (Barycentric Dynamical Time- a relativistic coordinate timescale specifically designed for astronomical applications).
At its nominal distance, the asteroid will pass within 7,217,247 kilometers (4,480,000 miles) of Earth, with a minimum possible distance of 7,182,369 kilometers and a maximum of 7,252,123 kilometers.
Traveling at a relative velocity of 6.59 kilometers per second (approximately 23,724 kilometers per hour), this asteroid has put Nasa on alert at least till Christmas eve.
However, before this, other smaller asteroids will also make close approaches. On December 19 (US time), the 49-foot asteroid (2024 YA) will pass at 869,000 miles. Asteroid (2020 XY4), measuring 44 feet, will pass at 3,030,000 miles on December 20. Two asteroids will pass on December 21: the 50-foot (2024 XQ4) at 656,000 miles and the 60-foot (2024 XN15) at 2,350,000 miles.
Nasa’s Asteroid Watch dashboard tracks objects approaching within 4.6 million miles of Earth. Objects larger than 150 meters within this distance are considered potentially hazardous. The dashboard provides information on the asteroids’ size, distance, and closest approach date.
None of the currently tracked asteroids pose a threat to Earth. “Objects approaching within 4.6 million miles and larger than 150 meters are classified as potentially hazardous, though all currently tracked objects pose no threat to our planet.” For reference, the average Earth-moon distance is about 239,000 miles.
