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Newsweek
22-05-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
NASA Tracking House-Sized Asteroids Approaching Earth Imminently
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. NASA is monitoring three asteroids in the vicinity of the Earth that are zipping through space at around 16,000 to 41,000 miles per hour. A bus-sized asteroid known as "2025 KH," measuring around 37 feet in diameter, soared past the Earth on Thursday morning at over 25,000 miles per hour, coming as close as within 687,000 miles from our planet, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). A larger, house-sized space rock, known as "2025 KE1," approximately 58 feet in diameter, is due to zoom past the Earth early Friday morning. The asteroid will zip by at over 41,000 miles per hour, coming within just 120,000 miles from the Earth, according to the JPL's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). The national space agency is also tracking a slightly smaller house-sized asteroid, called "2025 KC," that's around 52 feet in diameter. It is expected to fly past at over 16,000 miles per hour, reaching within 636,000 miles from planet Earth, the JPL notes. Stock image: An asteroid approaching the Earth, with an inset image showing a school bus in front of a house. Stock image: An asteroid approaching the Earth, with an inset image showing a school bus in front of a house. Getty Back in April, an asteroid known as "2024 YR4" was approximated to be around 200 feet by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. "That's just about the height of a 15-story building," Andy Rivkin, an astronomer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, noted in a NASA blog post on April 2. Earlier this year in February, data from the CNEOS indicated that the impact probability of 2024 YR4 in 2032 was at 3.1 percent, marking "the highest impact probability NASA has ever recorded for an object of this size or larger," the space agency noted at the time. Further studies that month, however, brought that asteroid's chance of Earth impact on December 22 in 2032 down to 0.004 percent. The data showed there is "no significant potential" for 2024 YR4 to "impact our planet for the next century," NASA advised in a blog post on February 24. However, there is still a "very small chance" for 2024 YR4 to impact the Moon on that date and that probability is currently 1.7 percent, NASA noted. Asteroids are small, rocky masses left over from the formation of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago. They are found concentrated in the main asteroid belt, orbiting around the sun between the paths of Mars and Jupiter. The orbits of these space rocks bring them within 120 million miles of the sun. Most near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids ranging in size from about 10 feet to almost 25 miles across. "The majority of near-Earth objects have orbits that don't bring them very close to Earth, and therefore pose no risk of impact," NASA says. However, a small portion of them, known as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), do require close monitoring. Measuring over 460 feet in size, PHAs have orbits that bring them as close as within 4.6 million miles of the Earth's orbit around the sun, NASA explains. Despite the number of PHAs out in our solar system, none of them are likely to hit Earth any time soon. "The 'potentially hazardous' designation simply means over many centuries and millennia the asteroid's orbit may evolve into one that has a chance of impacting Earth. We do not assess these long-term, many-century possibilities of impact," Paul Chodas, manager of the CNEOS, previously told Newsweek. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about asteroids? Let us know via science@
Newsweek
02-05-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
Asteroids the Size of Buses Approaching Earth—Here's How Close They'll Get
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. NASA is tracking two bus-sized asteroids in the vicinity of the Earth that are whizzing through space at some 11,000 to 24,000 miles per hour. A space rock known as "2025 HP22," measuring approximately 22 feet in diameter, is zipping past us at over 24,000 miles per hour this morning, coming as close as within 306,000 miles from the Earth, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). A slightly larger asteroid, known as "2025 JA"—measuring in at around 26 feet across—is also making a close approach today, according to the JPL's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). Traveling at over 11,000 miles per hour, 2025 JA will get within 317,000 miles of the Earth. NASA is also tracking two other asteroids near Earth today, including a larger bus-sized one called "2025 HR1" that's hurtling through space at around 14,000 miles per hour. Measuring about 42 feet in diameter, 2025 HR1 will make its closest approach at around 2.9 million miles from our planet, JPL astronomers said. A house-sized space rock known as "2025 HJ5," spanning around 48 feet across, also zoomed past Earth today at around 17,000 miles per hour, getting within 2.5 million miles of our world, according to the CNEOS. Mock up of two buses in space. Mock up of two buses in space. ISchneider / Nerthuz / Terry Papoulias/iStock / Getty Images Plus Asteroids are small, rocky masses left over from the formation of the solar system nearly 4.6 billion years ago. They're concentrated in the main asteroid belt, orbiting around the sun between the paths of Mars and Jupiter. Last month, an asteroid known as "2024 YR4" was estimated to be about 200 feet by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. "That's just about the height of a 15-story building," noted Andy Rivkin, an astronomer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, in a NASA blog post on April 2. Back in February, data from the CNEOS showed the impact probability of 2024 YR4 in 2032 was at 3.1 percent. This marked "the highest impact probability NASA has ever recorded for an object of this size or larger," the space agency noted at the time. However, further studies that month brought that asteroid's chance of Earth impact on December 22 in 2032 down to 0.004 percent. The data showed there is "no significant potential" for 2024 YR4 to "impact our planet for the next century." NASA added that "the range of possible locations the asteroid could be on Dec. 22, 2032, has moved farther away from the Earth" in a blog post on February 24. There is still a "very small chance" for 2024 YR4 to impact the Moon on that date and that probability is currently 1.7 percent, the space agency said. The orbits of asteroids bring them within 120 million miles of the sun. Most near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids that range in size from about 10 feet to nearly 25 miles across. NASA notes: "The majority of near-Earth objects have orbits that don't bring them very close to Earth, and therefore pose no risk of impact." Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about asteroids? Let us know via science@
Newsweek
01-05-2025
- Science
- Newsweek
Asteroids: NASA Tracking House-Sized Space Rock Near Earth
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. NASA has been tracking a house-sized asteroid in the vicinity of Earth that is hurtling through space at a zippy 42,300 miles per hour. Known as "2025 HM4," the asteroid's path brought it within a cosmically-small 477,000 miles of our home, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The space rock is estimated to be around 49 to 111 feet in diameter, according to the JPL's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). Asteroids are small, rocky masses left over from the formation of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago. They're found in the main asteroid belt, orbiting around the sun between the paths of Mars and Jupiter. An illustration of an asteroid hovering over the Earth in space, with an inset image showing a house. An illustration of an asteroid hovering over the Earth in space, with an inset image showing a house. iStock / Getty Images Plus 2025 HM4 isn't the only space rock approaching the Earth this week. NASA is also tracking two airplane-sized asteroids—the "2024 BF" and "2025 GT1"), spanning around 110 to 140 feet in diameter—that will zoom past our planet on Thursday at a distance of around 2.2 to 2.6 million miles from the Earth. Another house-sized space rock—the "2025 HJ5," which measures around 48 feet—will also be going past at about 2.5 million miles from the Earth on Friday. Earlier this year in February, updated data from the CNEOS showed the Earth impact probability of the asteroid known as "2024 YR4" in 2032 was at 3.1 percent, which was "the highest impact probability NASA has ever recorded for an object of this size or larger," NASA noted at the time. Further studies on the asteroid's trajectory later that month brought the chance of Earth impact on December 22 in 2032 down to 0.004 percent. The space agency said that "NASA has significantly lowered the risk of near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 as an impact threat to Earth for the foreseeable future" and "the range of possible locations the asteroid could be on Dec. 22, 2032, has moved farther away from the Earth." Earlier this month, the 2024 YR4 was estimated to be about 200 feet by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. "That's just about the height of a 15-story building," noted Andy Rivkin, an astronomer at Johns Hopkins University who is the principal investigator of the Webb Director's Discretionary Time program used to study 2024 YR4, "All together, we have a better sense of what this building-sized asteroid is like. This in turn gives us a window to understand what other objects the size of 2024 YR4 are like, including the next one that might be heading our way," Rivkin said in a NASA blog post on April 2. The orbits of asteroids bring them within around 120 million miles of the sun. "The majority of near-Earth objects have orbits that don't bring them very close to Earth, and therefore pose no risk of impact," NASA notes. A small portion of them, however, known as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), do merit closer tracking. PHAs, which are around 460 feet in size, have orbits that bring them as close as within 4.6 million miles of the Earth's orbit around the sun, NASA notes. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about asteroids? Let us know via science@
Business Mayor
27-04-2025
- General
- Business Mayor
Hoping for & dreaming about a YR4 end
There are many irritating things about dying. For most of us yet to attain immortality, not getting to do things we look forward to doing, or are fond of, or have planned to do this Friday, is a bummer. Leaving things unfinished usually is cause for worry if you're a master procrastinator like I am. (Our family motto: Why do something today when you can do it day after tomorrow?) There is much mumbo-jumbo in the market of life that's out to sell that snake-oil brand about death being liberating. For those in terminal or acute pain, sure, I get it. A horrendously bad movie ending is to be preferred to it going on and on. But apart from pain relief, to tell yourself that dying is a happy release from these mortal coils is like the wealthy saying money doesn't matter. So, life ending does suck any way you look at it. But top of the pile of reasons why dying can be so disappointing, heartbreaking even, is that you either leave loved ones behind, or if someone else is doing the dying, then you're the one left behind. This is a serious problem that's a deeply worrying aspect of death that can't be dodged. Unless… …unless, no one is left behind. Enter 2024 YR4, a 10-storey-sized asteroid that was discovered in December last year and had, according to boffins at the European Space Agency (ESA), a 1.2% chance of slamming into Earth on December 22, 2032. While YR4 isn't big enough to wipe out Earth, it was deemed a 'city killer' for its capability of destroying heavily populated areas like, say, central Delhi, south Mumbai, or anywhere in Kolkata. Since my loved ones and I all live in or near the third city most of the time, I put my money that YR4 does to Kolkata what Trump is doing to the global economy. My hopes were raised in February when the risk of the asteroid hitting Earth rose to 3.1% – one in 32 – a far higher chance than it is to find parking space within a 2 km radius of my office on a weekday, and way higher than India has a chance to compete in the 2046 Fifa World Cup. But then, like some bad cryptocurrency, by February 25, chances of YR4 hitting any part of the planet was down to a disappointing .001% (granted, still higher than India's chance of going to the football World Cup). So, a communal – as in, 'shared by members of a community' – death looks slim now. But I'm an optimist. .001% is not nothing. The thought of no one of consequence being around to check (or, god forbid, celebrate) 15 years after we are stoned out of our corporeal heads in 2032 whether India is viksit or not, still brings me some hope and thrill. It's been a while since I've watched news television – on any platform, phone included. It used to simply raise my blood pressure without me gaining any information that I couldn't gather elsewhere at my own pace and under my control. My lifestyle isn't that of a teetotalling, non-smoking sadhu. But staying off news TV has kept me healthy, moderately wealthy, and certainly wiser for the wear and tear. But like a BYD-owner regularly checking his Tesla stocks as if his mojo depended on it, I judiciously (read: manically) keep one eye every day on ESA's Planetary Defence Office website to check whether its needle on YR4 has moved since February 25. No news channel, busy with nattering knobs – 'discussing' everything from how to take out Pakistan to Usha Vance's great-aunt Chilukuri Santhamma's English translation of the Gita – tracks the asteroid. So, no need to get my BP levels up again. If you're going to die from an asteroid, it'll be the wind and shockwave that gets you much before the heat, debris, and tsunamis that follow the impact. In other words, it's a relatively instantaneous, peaceful death for you and your loved ones – if the distant fiery blob in the sky approaching you doesn't stress you out. Till then, I'm afraid, I will fret a bit about Sunday martini-soaked fun things like death and dying. READ SOURCE
Time of India
26-04-2025
- Lifestyle
- Time of India
Hoping for & dreaming about a YR4 end
There are many irritating things about dying. For most of us yet to attain immortality, not getting to do things we look forward to doing, or are fond of, or have planned to do this Friday, is a bummer. Leaving things unfinished usually is cause for worry if you're a master procrastinator like I am. (Our family motto: Why do something today when you can do it day after tomorrow?) #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India stares at a 'water bomb' threat as it freezes Indus Treaty India readies short, mid & long-term Indus River plans Shehbaz Sharif calls India's stand "worn-out narrative" There is much mumbo-jumbo in the market of life that's out to sell that snake-oil brand about death being liberating. For those in terminal or acute pain, sure, I get it. A horrendously bad movie ending is to be preferred to it going on and on. But apart from pain relief, to tell yourself that dying is a happy release from these mortal coils is like the wealthy saying money doesn't matter. So, life ending does suck any way you look at it. But top of the pile of reasons why dying can be so disappointing, heartbreaking even, is that you either leave loved ones behind, or if someone else is doing the dying, then you're the one left behind. This is a serious problem that's a deeply worrying aspect of death that can't be dodged. Unless... by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas In Dubai | Search Ads View Deals Undo ...unless, no one is left behind. Enter 2024 YR4, a 10-storey-sized asteroid that was discovered in December last year and had, according to boffins at the European Space Agency (ESA), a 1.2% chance of slamming into Earth on December 22, 2032. While YR4 isn't big enough to wipe out Earth, it was deemed a 'city killer' for its capability of destroying heavily populated areas like, say, central Delhi, south Mumbai, or anywhere in Kolkata. Since my loved ones and I all live in or near the third city most of the time, I put my money that YR4 does to Kolkata what Trump is doing to the global economy. My hopes were raised in February when the risk of the asteroid hitting Earth rose to 3.1% - one in 32 - a far higher chance than it is to find parking space within a 2 km radius of my office on a weekday, and way higher than India has a chance to compete in the 2046 Fifa World Cup . But then, like some bad cryptocurrency, by February 25, chances of YR4 hitting any part of the planet was down to a disappointing .001% (granted, still higher than India's chance of going to the football World Cup). Live Events So, a communal - as in, 'shared by members of a community' - death looks slim now. But I'm an optimist. .001% is not nothing. The thought of no one of consequence being around to check (or, god forbid, celebrate) 15 years after we are stoned out of our corporeal heads in 2032 whether India is viksit or not, still brings me some hope and thrill. It's been a while since I've watched news television - on any platform, phone included. It used to simply raise my blood pressure without me gaining any information that I couldn't gather elsewhere at my own pace and under my control. My lifestyle isn't that of a teetotalling, non-smoking sadhu. But staying off news TV has kept me healthy, moderately wealthy, and certainly wiser for the wear and tear. But like a BYD-owner regularly checking his Tesla stocks as if his mojo depended on it, I judiciously (read: manically) keep one eye every day on ESA's Planetary Defence Office website to check whether its needle on YR4 has moved since February 25. No news channel, busy with nattering knobs - 'discussing' everything from how to take out Pakistan to Usha Vance's great-aunt Chilukuri Santhamma's English translation of the Gita - tracks the asteroid. So, no need to get my BP levels up again. If you're going to die from an asteroid, it'll be the wind and shockwave that gets you much before the heat, debris, and tsunamis that follow the impact. In other words, it's a relatively instantaneous, peaceful death for you and your loved ones - if the distant fiery blob in the sky approaching you doesn't stress you out. Till then, I'm afraid, I will fret a bit about Sunday martini-soaked fun things like death and dying .
