NASA Monitors Stadium-Sized Asteroid 2024 ON as It Approaches Earth

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is closely observing an asteroid categorized as “potentially hazardous” that will pass by Earth this Tuesday. Dubbed 2024 ON, this rocky entity measures approximately 350 meters long by 180 meters wide (about 1,150 feet by 590 feet), larger than prior estimates indicated.

Asteroid’s Close Encounter with Earth

On Tuesday morning, NASA reported that asteroid 2024 ON was positioned roughly 621,000 miles away from Earth. This distance is considered relatively close in astronomical terms. Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, noted that such sizable asteroids approaching Earth occur once every five to ten years.

Historic Context of Asteroid Encounters

Farnocchia, who is part of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, recalled the last notable asteroid event, which took place over Russia in 2013. Since that incident, Earth has not experienced a meteor impact of a size comparable to 2024 ON since prehistoric times.

Assessing the Collision Risk

While this asteroid is classified as a “potentially hazardous object,” Farnocchia reassured the public that there is no risk of collision. According to him, for an asteroid to pose a danger, it must come within a few hundred miles of Earth. “We monitor the possibility of a collision not just for the near term but also for the next century,” Farnocchia explained. “Currently, there is no projected collision in the next hundred years.”

Upcoming Asteroid Passes

2024 ON is one of five asteroids that will approach Earth within the next two days. However, the remaining four will not come as close, ranging between 1.1 to 3.9 million miles away. Among these, three asteroids measure around 51 feet in diameter, equivalent to the size of a typical house.

Speed of 2024 ON

NASA’s measurements indicate that 2024 ON was traveling at approximately 8.8 kilometers per second (nearly 20,000 miles per hour) as it hurtled through space on Tuesday morning. This extraordinary speed underscores the significance of NASA’s monitoring efforts.

NASA’s Asteroid Watch Dashboard

For continuous updates, NASA utilizes its Asteroid Watch Dashboard to keep track of asteroids and comets that could make relatively close approaches to Earth. This resource provides information such as the date of closest approach, estimated object diameters, and distances from Earth for each approaching body.

The dashboard specifically highlights the next five approaches within 4.6 million miles (or 7.5 million kilometers) of Earth. Asteroids larger than about 150 meters that come within this distance are categorized as potentially hazardous objects.

A Look to the Future

As technology advances, NASA continues to enhance its capability to detect and monitor near-Earth objects. Increased awareness of these cosmic threats allows for a better understanding of their potential impacts on our planet.

The asteroid community will remain vigilant as 2024 ON makes its pass, contributing to both scientific knowledge and public safety efforts surrounding near-Earth objects.