Just a day after 3 asteroids barely missed hitting Earth, yet another massive asteroid is set to get worryingly close to the planet. On Friday, there was a 140-foot, 110-foot and a 90-foot asteroid rushing toward Earth and one of them got as close as 1,260,000 miles.
Fortunately, none of them succumbed to planetary gravitational pulls that could have altered their orbits. And today, there is a 110-foot asteroid, as big as a passenger plane, that will get close to earth. NASA has been tracking the asteroid and has made available the basic information about how close it will get and the speed at which it is travelling now. Also, check 4 shocking asteroid facts below.
This is Asteroid 2024 OJ2. The asteroid will get as close as 4,450,000 miles of Earth today. The asteroid’s speed has been measured at a scorching 10.42 km per second. In terms of kilometres per hour, this asteroid is burning up the distance between itself and the Earth at 37510 kmph.
NASA’s Small-Body Database Lookup has dubbed this asteroid as a near-Earth object (NEO) and classified it as belonging to the Amor group of asteroids.
Asteroid facts: How often does an asteroid strike on Earth happen?
Too often for comfort! In fact, it happens daily!
1. According to NASA on a daily basis over 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles fall onto Earth. These are mostly from debris of passing asteroids and comets.
2. If that was not scary enough for you, know that approximately once a year, an asteroid about the size of a car, hits Earth. These asteroids don’t reach the ground and instead burn up ib the atmosphere and turn into a fireball.
3. Well, this one will definitely terrify you! Approximately, every 2,000 years or so, a meteoroid around 110 metreswide hits Earth! And when it does that, major damage is caused to the region. The last time a big one struck was in Tunguska and in this cetury, it was in Chelyabinsk.
4. Wait! There is more. Every few million years, an asteroid, a comet or some other heavenly body that is large enough to threaten humanity itself strikes earth. The evidence can be seen even today in the form of Impact craters on Earth, the moon and even other planets like Mars.
Check asteroid impacts table
| Asteroid facts | Size/Impact | Consequences | Notable Examples | Evidence |
| Daily Impact | Dust and sand-sized particles | Over 100 tons of material from passing asteroids and comets fall onto Earth, mostly unnoticed. | N/A | Continuous small particles collected and measured. |
| Annual Impact | Car-sized asteroid | These asteroids burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. | Examples of fireballs | Observed fireballs and atmospheric phenomena. |
| Every 2,000 Years | Football field-sized asteroids | Significant regional damage; large explosions or impacts. | N/A | Impact craters and explosion damage. |
| Every Few Million Years | Large asteroids, comets, or celestial bodies | Potentially global-scale impacts that could threaten humanity; major environmental and climatic changes. | Chicxulub Crater (65 mn years ago), other ancient impact sites | Impact craters on Earth, Moon, and Mars; geological evidence. |
