Asteroid Adventure: Four Space Rocks Zoom By Earth Today

Today is astronomical day! Four asteroids, including a so-called "city killer, " are scheduled for a close encounter with Earth. They won't hit us, but they'll still make quite the show. The largest, named 2002 NV16, is about the size of the Washington Monument and comes closest at about 2. 8 million miles away. That might sound far, but astronomers consider anything within 30 million miles potentially hazardous. In just a few hours, the asteroids will all pass by. The first one took a snapshot at 12:36 a. m. , while another buzzed by at 4:20 a. m. Two more will fly by at 11:47 a. m. and 11:51 a. m. , respectively. None of them are on a collision course, so no worries about Earth's safety.

Scientists have been keeping a close eye on these space rocks. Two of the asteroids, 2024 TP17 and 2024 TR6, were only discovered this month. It's a bit unsettling that so many asteroids are found just before they zip by us. NASA says around 2, 000 near-Earth asteroids are discovered each year. Although they won't hit, scientists can learn a lot from these fly-bys. They can take pictures with radar and improve their predictions about future encounters. Some of these asteroids will pass by again in the future. For example, 2024 TR6 will fly by in 2039 and 2024 TP17 in 2040, both much closer than today.

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