NASA reports plane-sized asteroid nearing earth
The space rock—known as 2025 OW—is estimated to be about 210 feet across and will make its closest approach to our next Monday, at a distance of around 393,000 miles, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
But 2025 OW isn't the only asteroid approaching us in the coming days. NASA is also tracking another airplane-sized space rock known as 2025 OX, which is estimated to be about 110 feet across, and will fly past the Earth on July 26 at a distance of 2,810,000 miles.
Three more aircraft-sized space rocks are also expected to pass by Earth in the next few weeks.
On July 28, asteroid 2018 BE5 will make its closest approach at a distance of just 2,580,000 miles; 2025 OR will pass within 3,040,000 miles on July 31; and, next month, 2019 CO1 will get within 4,240,000 miles of our home.
According to NASA, asteroids are inactive bodies made of all the rocky, dusty and metallic materials left behind from the formation of our solar system. They are mainly concentrated within the main asteroid belt, orbiting around the sun between the paths of Mars and Jupiter, though some may end up in the inner solar system.
Asteroids of various sizes can pose different levels of threat to our planet. Small ones around 30 feet impact Earth about once in a decade, causing a very bright fireball, and a strong sonic boom. They may sometimes also break nearby windows.
Space rocks measuring 160 feet and over can cause local devastation and leave a crater. Thankfully, they only impact Earth about in 1,000 years.
Depending on the impact location, larger space rocks—those that measure in at over 500 feet across—can cause deaths across populated metro areas and states, says NASA. Fortunately, they only hit the Earth around every 20,000 years.
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