According to NASA’s Asteroid Watch system, from September 6th to 12th, one asteroid the size of a house, three the size of airplanes, and one the size of a bus will come close to Earth.
NASA used a spacecraft to test the redirection of the asteroid Dimorphos in September of last year. (Image: NASA)
NASA identified an asteroid named JA5, which passed Earth at a distance of 5.1 million kilometers on September 6th. JA5, about the size of a house and measuring approximately 17.9 meters, was first discovered in 2021.
On September 8th, two asteroids, QC5 and GE, will approach Earth at distances of about 4 million kilometers and 5.7 million kilometers, respectively. According to NASA’s data, QC5, measuring about 25 meters (roughly the size of an airplane), was discovered this year, while GE, with a size of 7.9 meters, was discovered in 2022.
NASA also anticipates two airplane-sized asteroids passing by Earth on September 10th. Specifically, the asteroid QF6 will be about 2.6 million kilometers away from Earth and measure 20.7 meters, while QE8 will be about 1.5 million kilometers away and measure 51.8 meters. Both asteroids were discovered this year.
NASA notes that the average distance between the moon and Earth is 384,633 kilometers. With sizes under 150 meters, these asteroids do not pose a threat to Earth even when passing within a range of 7.4 million kilometers around our planet.
According to ABC News, back in March, an estimated 42.6-94.4-meter-sized asteroid flew by Earth. NASA mentioned that asteroids of this size pass by Earth approximately once a decade.
As of August 31st, NASA has discovered over 32,000 near-Earth asteroids. Among them, 853 asteroids are larger than 1 kilometer, and 10,541 asteroids are larger than 140 meters. NASA reports that in the last 30 days, three asteroids passed by Earth closer than the moon, and in the last 365 days, ten asteroids came closer to Earth than the moon.