A big batch of asteroids buzzes the Earth in a single week

As the The meteorite shower Leonid illuminated the sky with bright fireballs during the past weeklarger space rocks were slipping too.

No less than six asteroids flew closer to Earth than the Moon, including the second closest passage of the year.

Astronomers catch asteroids whipping almost every day, but it is a little rarer to see them pass at a lunar distance (about 384,000 km).

According to NASA data, 66 asteroids have approached us so far in 2018, including half a dozen people overflights since November 13.

The group closest to this group was the 2018 asteroid WG, which crossed the bar above us at a distance of about 30,000 kilometers (19,000 miles) on Friday. Only the asteroid 2018 AU was observed closer to the surface of our planet this year and survived to continue, when it came in 9,544 miles (15,360 kilometers).

The two distances are much closer to us than many artificial satellites in orbit.

The ranking does not include a small asteroid that became a meteor when it entered the atmosphere in June and may have reached the ground.

The size of the asteroids that passed through our cosmic quarter last week ranged from the size of a compact car to some larger debris, more comparable to a semi-trailer.

Although no asteroid poses a threat to the planet, most of these (relatively) near misses are spotted for the first time a few days or hours after they reach their nearest point. Although it may seem scary, it is largely because they are quite small compared to most of the asteroids that we follow.

At the present time, no asteroid should be less than a lunar distance over the next nine years. But it is almost certain that our heavenly door will see others in the coming weeks, if not sooner.

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