
Asteroid size of 10-storey building to fly past Earth today at 13,900mph
The asteroid, named 2022 YS5 by Nasa, is set to fly past us at a staggering 13,980mph on Thursday, July 17.
The US space agency confirmed that YS5 poses no threat to our planet – but at 120ft in diameter, similar in size to a 10-storey building, the asteroid is no small fry.
YS5 is going to pass Earth at a distance of about 2.58million miles. This may seem far away, but in cosmic terms, it's pretty close.
Thankfully, even at its large size, it's too small to be classified as 'potentially hazardous'.
Nasa will only use that classification if an asteroid is more than 275ft in diameter and passes within 4.6million miles of Earth, meaning YS5 falls short when it comes to size.
The space agency will closely monitor the asteroid, but at this point, it is not considered dangerous.
YS5 is considered an 'Apollo-class asteroid' because its orbit crosses the orbit of the Earth.
It orbits the sun every 369 days, five days longer than we take on Earth, More Trending
And Nasa predicts YS5's close pass comes only two days before our planet's next close encounter with an asteroid.
On Saturday (July 19) its Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicts another asteroid, named 2018 BY6 and almost double the size of YS5 at 210ft diameter, will come within 3.27million miles of Earth.
A much smaller asteroid, the 95ft diameter 2025 ME92, will come within 3.2million miles of us on Sunday, July 20, and then we'll have a break from close encounters until 2019 CO1 comes within 4.2million miles of us on August 8.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Uranus is hotter and leakier than we realised
MORE: 'Super-Earth' sending out strange signal over 145 light years discovered
MORE: Two black holes just smashed together into something 225 times the mass of our Sun

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
Scientists begin melting Earth's oldest ice to unlock 1,500,000-year-old secrets
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Unassuming, icicle-like tubes could help answer mysteries about Earth's climate. They are the world's oldest ice cores, which have just landed in the UK after being drilled from the depths of Antarctica. While most of Britain is reeling from weeks of back-to-back heatwaves, scientists in Cambridge find out what the rare blocks of ice can reveal about climate change and our home planet. But to get hold of the ice, they first had to drill for 1.7 miles down the ice sheet at the South Pole. The giant stick of ice was then cut into more manageable chunks and transported to Europe. Scientists hope the pieces will reveal why the planet's climate cycle shifted more than a million years ago, helping to predict Earth's future response to rising greenhouse gas. Dr Liz Thomas, from the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge, told Reuters: 'We really are exploring a completely unknown time in our history. 'We are hoping to unlock all these amazing secrets.' The new core ice, which was drilled near the Concordia research station in the 'White Continent,' beats the previous 800,000-year-old ice, which was drilled in the early 2000s. Until now, scientists have relied on marine sediments to study the climate cycles. over millions of years. But ice has a special feature invisible to the naked eye – entrapped bubbles showing the atmospheric conditions, amount of greenhouse gas in the air and chemical evidence of temperatures at the time when they were released. And to not make the job too easy for the scientists, Antarctica is the only place on Earth where such a long record of the atmosphere is found. Summer temperatures at the French-Italian Concordia station range from -30°C to -50°C, and can reach a brain-numbing -80°C in winter. Dr Thomas continued: 'Our data will yield the first continuous reconstructions of key environmental indicators—including atmospheric temperatures, wind patterns, sea ice extent, and marine productivity—spanning the past 1.5 million years. 'This unprecedented ice core dataset will provide vital insights into the link between atmospheric CO₂ levels and climate during a previously uncharted period in Earth's history, offering valuable context for predicting future climate change.' The world's largest ice sheet remains shrouded in mystery and intrigue as relatively little is still known about Antarctica. More Trending Geologists believe the continent was once covered in rivers and forests. Satellite data and radars revealed ridges and valleys, suggesting the icy no man's land looked very different 34 million years ago. Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists have their eyes set on Antarctica after Google Map sleuths believe they have found a secret door buried in the mountainside. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Scorching 40°C temperatures 'will soon become the new normal for the UK' MORE: I love living in London — but it's absolutely vile in the summer MORE: Blame, thoughts and prayers – the uncomfortable truth about politicians and natural disasters


Scottish Sun
3 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
NASA's ‘Son of Concorde' jet that will HALVE flight time from US to London step closer to take-off with runway test
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) NASA's supersonic "Son of Concorde" plane which will halve the travel time between London and New York is zooming ever closer to take-off. The X-59 jet will even break the sound barrier when it flies - but won't produce a sonic boom, thanks to its unique design. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Concept illustration of the X-59 shooting through the sky Credit: SWNS 5 Nasa and Lockheed Martin are speeding ahead with tests of the supersonic X-59 jet Credit: Lockheed Martin / Gary Tice 5 The 30m-long and 9m-wide plane has a sharp, stiletto-style nose Credit: Alamy When up and running, the aircraft will hurtle along at altitudes of at speeds of 937mph at 55,000 feet up. Nasa revealed it struck another milestone in the plane's journey toward the skies with crucial low-speed taxiing tests. The X-59 moved around purely under its own power for the first time at US Air Force Plant 42 on July 10. Taxiing is the final stage of ground tests before Nasa can take it up into the skies - and the maiden voyage is chalked for later this year. Over the coming weeks, pilots will gradually increase the speed on the runway - leading to high-speed manoeuvres when it will travel fast enough to take off. Engineers tested key systems like steering and breaking during the low-speed run through. Nasa said: "These checks help ensure the aircraft's stability and control across a range of conditions, giving pilots and engineers confidence that all systems are functioning as expected." The X-59 is the crown jewel in Nasa's Quesst mission - which aims to prove supersonic flight is possible without a deafening sonic boom. Instead, the X-59 will produce a much quieter sonic "thump". Currently, commercial passenger planes are banned from going at such speeds – if they were able to – over land in the UK and US on account of the noise levels. Near-supersonic jet that can fly London-New York at speeds 'not seen since Concorde' unveiled with luxury living spaces The 30m-long and 9m-wide X-59 has a sharp, stiletto-style nose that engineers believe will reduce the noise The space agency believes their new jet could fly from London to New York in three-and-a-half hours. Lori Ozoroski, a project manager at Nasa, previously said: "We had a commercial supersonic aircraft, the Concorde. "But it was limited during its flights that it could not fly, say into, you know, somewhere in the middle of the U.S. "You were not allowed to fly supersonic over land. 5 The jet's F414-GE-100 engine is mounted on top of the aircraft Credit: Lockheed Martin / Gary Tice 5 The X-59 has a sharp nose designed to reduce the sonic boom Credit: Reuters "So most of the flights were back and forth just over the ocean. And so again, that ban has been in place for 50 years, over 50 years in the US. "A lot of international countries as well have similar bans. "And so the whole goal of this research that we're doing right now is to lift that ban and set a speed limit for commercial supersonic aircraft rather than a speed limit." Lori added: "The sound level is more like – we've done studies – it's more like a car door closing, you know, across the street at your neighbour's house rather than the very loud typical sonic boom."


The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
NASA's ‘Son of Concorde' jet that will HALVE flight time from US to London step closer to take-off with runway test
NASA's supersonic "Son of Concorde" plane which will halve the travel time between London and New York is zooming ever closer to take-off. The X-59 jet will even break the sound barrier when it flies - but won't produce a sonic boom, thanks to its unique design. 5 5 5 When up and running, the aircraft will hurtle along at altitudes of at speeds of 937mph at 55,000 feet up. Nasa revealed it struck another milestone in the plane's journey toward the skies with crucial low-speed taxiing tests. The X-59 moved around purely under its own power for the first time at US Air Force Plant 42 on July 10. Taxiing is the final stage of ground tests before Nasa can take it up into the skies - and the maiden voyage is chalked for later this year. Over the coming weeks, pilots will gradually increase the speed on the runway - leading to high-speed manoeuvres when it will travel fast enough to take off. Engineers tested key systems like steering and breaking during the low-speed run through. Nasa said: "These checks help ensure the aircraft's stability and control across a range of conditions, giving pilots and engineers confidence that all systems are functioning as expected." The X-59 is the crown jewel in Nasa's Quesst mission - which aims to prove supersonic flight is possible without a deafening sonic boom. Instead, the X-59 will produce a much quieter sonic "thump". Currently, commercial passenger planes are banned from going at such speeds – if they were able to – over land in the UK and US on account of the noise levels. Near-supersonic jet that can fly London-New York at speeds 'not seen since Concorde' unveiled with luxury living spaces The 30m-long and 9m-wide X-59 has a sharp, stiletto-style nose that engineers believe will reduce the noise The space agency believes their new jet could fly from London to New York in three-and-a-half hours. Lori Ozoroski, a project manager at Nasa, previously said: "We had a commercial supersonic aircraft, the Concorde. "But it was limited during its flights that it could not fly, say into, you know, somewhere in the middle of the U.S. "You were not allowed to fly supersonic over land. 5 5 "So most of the flights were back and forth just over the ocean. And so again, that ban has been in place for 50 years, over 50 years in the US. "A lot of international countries as well have similar bans. "And so the whole goal of this research that we're doing right now is to lift that ban and set a speed limit for commercial supersonic aircraft rather than a speed limit." Lori added: "The sound level is more like – we've done studies – it's more like a car door closing, you know, across the street at your neighbour's house rather than the very loud typical sonic boom."