NASA Asteroid 2019: Two Tiny NEOs Fly By Earth On Wednesday

NASA is currently monitoring two asteroids that are expected to approach Earth on Wednesday. Based on the size of the incoming asteroids, they can cause a huge explosion in the atmosphere if they end up hitting the planet.

According to the agency’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the fist asteroid that will zip past Earth on Wednesday is called 2019 UZ. As noted by the agency, this asteroid is currently moving towards Earth with a speed of over 21,000 miles per hour. It has an estimated diameter of about 52 feet.

2019 UZ has been classified by CNEOS as an Aten asteroid. This means as the asteroid orbits the Sun, it occasionally intersects with that of Earth. This usually occurs when the asteroid reaches its farthest point from the Sun.

The second asteroid that CNEOS is currently tracking is called 2019 UH. According to the agency’s database, this asteroid is currently traveling at a speed of almost 30,000 miles per hour. CNEOS estimated it to have a diameter of about 135 feet.

CNEOS classified 2019 UH as an Apollo asteroid. Like other Apollos, 2019 UH has a very wide orbit that takes it around the Earth and the Sun. From time to time, the asteroid’s orbit intersects with that of Earth as it goes through its cycle around the giant star.

Since both 2019 UZ and 2019 UH are Earth-crossing asteroids, there’s a small chance that these asteroids could hit the planet in the future. If this happens, these asteroids will most likely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere and cause a huge explosion instead of hitting the ground.

Although the explosions will happen in the atmosphere, they will be powerful enough to damage thousands of solid structures on the ground.

Fortunately, Earth is safe for now from the approaching asteroids. According to CNEOS, 2019 UZ will fly past Earth on Oct. 23 at 4:20 pm EDT from a distance of 0.01451 astronomical units or roughly 1.2 million miles away.

As for 2019 UH, this asteroid will approach Earth on Oct. 23 at 8:47 pm EDT. During this time, the asteroid will be about 0.01281 astronomical units or roughly 1.1 million miles from the planet’s center.