New York: A 99-foot wide asteroid will fly close to Earth on Saturday at a speed of 29,961 kmph.
Named 2024 KA1, it will come closest at 16:36 IST within a distance of 1.8 million km from Earth, according to NASA’s Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).
The distance though is far off, it is still a close approach in astronomical terms.
Categorised into Apollo group of asteroids, the 2024KA1 poses no direct threat to planet Earth despite its huge size.
Most of the near-Earth objects ( NEOs) do not pose any immediate threat to Earth.
However there is a subset of potential hazardous asteroids ( PHAs) that are defined by their size exceeding 460 feet and they come close to Earth within 7.5 million km .
NASA and its global network of observatories, which includes both professional and amateur astronomers, continually monitor NEOs for potential risks and the data thus collected help track routes of asteroids such as 2024 KA1.
Details regarding them are also gleaned from sources like the Goldstone Solar System Radar Group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
More celestial visitors are on their way to fly past Earth after 2024KA1; asteroid 2024 LC with a size of 84 feet is one of them, and it will pass by at distance of approximately 4,703,168 km.
On June 11, 2024, two more asteroids will fly close to Earth; the first 2024 LD with a size of about 67 feet will come within the distance of 4,635,552 km from Earth and 2024 CR9 with a size of 1,400 feet will fly about 7,371,520 km away from Earth.