NASA Asteroid Tracker: 6 NEOs Flying Past Earth This Week

NASA’s asteroid tracking system has detected six near-Earth objects that are expected to safely fly past the planet on different days this week. According to the data collected by the agency, the biggest asteroid in the group is almost as big as the Statue of Liberty.

NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) noted that two asteroids will approach Earth on Thursday (June 11). These space rocks are known as 2020 JQ2 and 2020 JS1. 2020 JQ2 has an estimated diameter of 138 feet and is moving towards Earth at a speed of 10,000 miles per hour.

2020 JS1, on the other hand, measures about 105 feet wide and is flying at an average velocity of over 11,000 miles per hour.

According to CNEOS, 2020 JQ2 will approach Earth on June 11 at 6:38 a.m. EDT from a distance of 0.03901 astronomical units or roughly 3.6 million miles away. As for 2020 JS1, this asteroid will fly past Earth on Thursday at 6:21 p.m. EDT from about 0.02531 astronomical units or about 2.4 million miles away.

On Saturday, three asteroids will visit Earth’s vicinity. The first one to fly past Earth is 2020 JU1. According to CNEOS, this asteroid has an estimated diameter of 272 feet and is traveling across space at a speed of over 14,000 miles per hour.

Trailing behind it is 2020 LC. With an estimated diameter of 279 feet, this asteroid is the biggest in the group. It is expected to fly past Earth at a speed of over 17,000 miles per hour.

The last asteroid that will approach Earth on Saturday is called 2020 KB3. This asteroid measures about 256 feet wide and is flying at a speed of almost 17,000 miles per hour.

2020 JUI will approach Earth on Saturday at 10:34 a.m. EDT from about 0.04873 astronomical units or 4.5 million miles away. It will be followed by the arrival of 2020 LC at 11:07 a.m. EDT, which will fly past the planet from a distance of 0.03176 astronomical units or 2.9 million miles away.

Then, at 4:36 p.m. EDT on Saturday, 2020 KB3 will safely fly by Earth from a distance of 0.00807 astronomical units or roughly 750,000 miles away.

The last asteroid that will enter Earth’s neighborhood this week is called 2017 MF7. This space rock has an estimated diameter of 128 feet. It is traveling across the Solar System at a speed of over 24,000 miles per hour.

2017 MF7 is expected to safely fly past Earth on Sunday at 8:10 a.m. EDT. During this time, it will be about 0.00945 astronomical units or roughly 878,000 miles from the planet’s center.