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Despite an apparent increase in close encounters, there are no more asteroids close to the Earth than before. NASA is just beginning to detect these rogue space rocks. The space agency has announced a succession of space rocks heading towards Earth in the next two weeks.
NASA's Center for Near-Earth Objects (NEO) has calculated the trajectory of all asteroids classified as near-Earth objects until the year 2200.
These asteroids were pushed by the gravitational pull of neighboring planets into orbits that catapult them into the cosmic vicinity of the Earth.
This Friday, June 14th, will be an astronomical day for the asteroid flyover, which will see three asteroids near our planet.
Twelve asteroids will travel the Earth in June, all classified in the category of "quasi-terrestrial" meetings.
These are 2019 LL1, 2013 YA14, 2019 KJ, 2019 LU, 2019 LR, 2019 LC1, 2019 LB2, 2019 LM1, 2010 NY65, 2008 KV2, 2016 NN15 and 2019 LV1.
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The most exciting encounter will most likely occur when a rogue asteroid named 2008 KV2 travels the Earth on Thursday, June 27th.
This asteroid is approximately 350 m (1,150 ft.) And travels at 41,000 km / h (25,700 mph).
The online asteroid impact calculators believe that this space rock is capable of creating a crater with a depth of 660 m and causing a magnitude 7 earthquake.
This asteroid is easily able to cause an armageddon when it hits a big city.
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Fortunately, however, this asteroid will safely barrel beyond our planet at a distance of 4,200,000 miles (6,800,000 km).
Such huge distances may lead some observers to wonder why NASA classifies these asteroids as objects close to the Earth.
Indeed, they are remarkably short distances, given the infinite size of the universe and the enormity of our solar system.
If the trajectory of an asteroid does not prevail beyond the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars, NASA classifies it as a NEO.
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According to NASA, an NEO is an "asteroid or comet whose distance to perihelion is less than or equal to 1.3 astronomical units".
An astronomical unit is about 149.6 million km (93 million miles), which is the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
This means that asteroids such as 2008 KV2 gravitate around the Sun for a maximum distance of 194.5 million km.
And these rogue space rocks sometimes cross the Earth's own orbit around the Sun.
NASA stated: "When they gravitate around the Sun, objects close to the Earth can sometimes approach the Earth.
"Note that a" near "passage astronomically can be very far in human terms: millions or even tens of millions of kilometers."
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