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There are 5 asteroids set to come 'dangerously close' to Earth this year
Featured Image Credit: Science Photo Library - ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI/Getty / CHRISTOPH BURGSTEDT/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty

There are 5 asteroids set to come 'dangerously close' to Earth this year

Before the year is out Earth can expect to be visited by a bunch of asteroids that pass close to the planet

Gerrard Kaonga

Gerrard Kaonga

2023 is the year that simply keeps on giving, isn't it? As before the year is out, there are a slew of near-Earth asteroids to keep an eye out for.

Space is massive, and yet Earth still seems to have worry about massive rocks hurling towards it now and again.

Thankfully, NASA has been working on a defensive strategy in the form of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which proved successful in changing the course of an asteroid in its test last year.

The potentially hazardous asteroids that are expected to be visible this year are going to be dangerously close to Earth in an astronomical context, however, none are expected to actually strike the planet.

1) 139622 (2001 QQ142) is an Apollo-class asteroid, meaning it is a Near Earth Asteroid (NEAs) with a size less than 10km.

This asteroid is predicted to be between 0.2 miles (0.347km) and one mile (1.552km) in diameter, which would make it comparable in size to the Golden Gate Bridge.

It will have a close flyby with Earth on December 6 at a distance of 3.4 million miles (5.5 million km).

NASA has been working on a defensive strategy for a way to deal with asteroids that are a threat.
Getty Stock Image

2) 341843 (2008 EV5) is an Aten-class asteroid meaning it is a NEA with an orbital period of less than a year, and spends the majority of their time hidden by the sun.

The asteroid is predicted to be have a diameter of around 1,300ft (0.4km), so is about the size of the Capitol building.

This asteroid is expected to have a close flyby with earth on December 20 at a distance of 3.9 million miles.

3) (2019 CZ2) is another Apollo-class asteroid and it is considered pretty small. Comparably it is about the size of an American school bus with a diameter estimated to be between 68ft (21m) and and 308ft (94m).

This asteroid is set to flyby Earth on November 25 at a distance of 666,000 miles.

There are still a slew of near-Earth asteroids to keep an eye out for this year.
Getty Stock Image

4) 2020 YO3 is an Apollo-class asteroid and it is also considered small. It is estimated to be between 101ft (31m) and 230ft (70m) in diameter. The asteroid is about the size of London’s famous landmark, Big Ben.

The asteroid’s flyby is expected on December 23 at a distance of 847,000 miles.

5) (2013 VX4) is another Apollo-class asteroid and is also considered small, when talking about asteroids. It is estimated to be between 144ft (44m) and 325ft (99m) in diameter.

Comparatively, it is about the size of the State of Liberty in New York.

The asteroid will race passed us at around a distance 1.2 million miles on December 4.

If you haven’t been terrified by the idea of these giant space rocks, keep your eyes up to try and spot them over the coming weeks.

Topics: Science, Space, NASA, World News

Gerrard is a Journalist at UNILAD and has dived headfirst into covering everything from breaking global stories to trending entertainment news. He has a bachelors in English Literature from Brunel University and has written across a number of different national and international publications. Most notably the Financial Times, Daily Express, Evening Standard and Newsweek.