5 big asteroids to fly past Earth today, closest approach at 5,10,000 km: Explained

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ALSO READ: Earth had close shave with over 100 Vatican City, Burj Khalifa-sized asteroids in 2023: NASA's top targets unveiled 1. Asteroid 2024 GV3: Among the five asteroids, this asteroid will make the closest approach to Earth on Saturday. It will fly past at a distance of 5,10,000 km from Earth.

Notably, the average distance between Earth and the moon is about 3,85,000 kilometers. It is a "bus-size" asteroid, approximately 21-feet wide. It belongs to the Apollo group.

2. Asteroid 2024 GT2: It will fly past Earth at a distance of 8,77,000 km. It's 37 feet wide (bus size) and belongs to the Apollo group.

3. Asteroid 2024 FP3: It will fly past Earth at a distance of 10,20,000 km. It's 68 feet wide (aeroplane size) and belongs to the Apollo group.

4. Asteroid 2021 GQ5: It will fly past Earth at a distance of 33,70,000 km. It's 22 feet wide (bus size) and belongs to the Aten group.

5. Asteroid 2021 GE3: It will make a close approach to Earth at a distance of 38,10,000 km. It's 69 feet wide (aeroplane size) and belongs to the Apollo group.

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago, the NASA explained. Although asteroids orbit the sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. There are no known impact threats.

Tiny meteors burn up in Earth’s atmosphere all the time. The NASA explained that the majority of near-Earth objects have orbits that don’t bring them very close to Earth, and therefore pose no risk of impact. However, a small fraction of them – called potentially hazardous asteroids – need more attention.