Mumbai, April 10: Asteroids approach quite close to planet Earth every other day, yet none ever get close enough to hit the surface. The threat that asteroids may bring to our planet is nevertheless brought home by their close encounters. Therefore, organisations like NASA, ESA, and others continue to monitor these NEOs, which have the capability of wreaking havoc on Earth if they ever collide.

Meanwhile, two massive asteroids are travelling in the direction of Earth today (April 10, 2023) and may soon come within striking distance of the globe. Is Doomsday Arriving? Solar Storm Could Strike Earth As NASA Detects Ring-Shaped Sunspot on Sun. 

The asteroids headed towards Earth were tracked by NASA, which provided crucial information about the object, including its speed, closest approach distance, size, and other characteristics.

Asteroids’ Details

The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA has named the asteroids as Asteroid 2023 FT1 and Asteroid 2023 FG5, respectively. The same organisation also disclosed its trajectory, close approach distance, and anticipated speed.

On Monday, the Asteroid 2023 FT1 will travel 7.4 million km past Earth. The asteroid has a width of 110 feet, making it almost as large as an airplane. The Asteroid 2023 FG5 on the other hand, having a width of 77 feet, is hurtling towards earth with the closest earth approach of 2,260,000 MI/km.  Mysterious New Type of Black Hole Discovered by Gaia, Two Such Black Holes Lurking in Earth’s Cosmic Vicinity. 

The rocks are part of the Apollo group of asteroids, a collection of Near-Earth asteroids named after the enormous Apollo asteroid from 1862, which was found in the 1930s by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth.

Protection From Asteroid Impact

NASA has already tested its DART Mission for planetary protection to fend off these asteroids that are heading for Earth and could collide. The space agency successfully redirected an approaching asteroid from its course by crashing a spacecraft into it earlier.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 10, 2023 10:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).