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Two tiny asteroids snuck safely past the Earth last weekend, but they were discovered hours after bombarding our planet. 2018 NX and 2018 NW zipped in front of our blue-green orb at distances of only 72,000 miles and 76,000 miles, respectively. It's about one-third the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
Scientists believe that asteroids both extended between 16 and 50 feet in diameter. This is relatively low for asteroids close to the Earth.
Astronomers from an observatory of the Palomar Mountain Range in California spotted both space rocks on Sunday, according to the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union.
![[19459] ] 7_12_Asteroid](http://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/embed-lg/public/2018/07/12/712asteroid.jpg)
Although they have spent our planet in rapid succession, the space rocks do not travel as a pair. 2018 NW ran towards our planet about five times faster than NX 2018.
Even though astronomers did not know that they were heading towards our planet, these small asteroids posed no risk to life because of their distance to the Earth. They traveled relatively close, but not close enough to penetrate our atmosphere.
Last month, however, a small asteroid had an impact on the gases swarming our planet. 2018 LA is disintegrated into the atmosphere by creating a fireball over Botswana, captured in the video below. The researchers found fragments of the rock in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, EarthSky reported.
See all best photos of the week in these slideshows
Although near asteroids generally do not pose a threat to our planet, space agencies as NASA work hard on strategies to protect us from everything that does. In June, NASA announced its "National Land Preparation Strategy and Action Plan." In addition to improving the tracking and modeling of asteroids, this plan aims to produce deflection technologies, to foster international collaboration on global protection and to establish emergency procedures in the event of an emergency. impact.
A meteor went through the exploding atmosphere on the Chelyabinsk Oblast. Witnesses observed a bright fireball engulfing the sky before shock waves and damaged buildings burst shockwaves. The meteor indirectly caused nearly 1,500 injuries and damaged more than 7,000 structures.
In 1908, Russia experienced the largest impact event ever recorded on Earth. A meteor exploded with the energy of more than 1,000 atomic bombings on Hiroshima over the Stony Tunguska River, NASA reported. The impact leveled the trees to 25 miles, where they were flattened for decades.
Read more: NASA wants to use nuclear weapons to deflect rocks by 1600 feet
Scary, densely populated areas make up such a small proportion of the Earth's surface that even major impacts like Earth's surface Tunguska event are unlikely to destroy cities and villages. A more pressing concern, reported NASA, are the significant impacts on water that could create a tsunami.
NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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