NASA Tracker: 4 Asteroids To Fly Past Planet On Friday

NASA’s automated asteroid tracking system has detected four near-Earth objects that are currently approaching the planet. Based the data collected by the agency, one of the asteroids will approach Earth from about the same distance as the Moon.

NASA’S Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) identified the first asteroid that will fly past Earth on Friday (May 22) as 2020 KW1. As indicated in CNEOS’ database, this asteroid has an estimated diameter of about 36 feet.

2020 KW1 is expected to zip past Earth at 12:46 a.m. EDT at a speed of about 18,000 miles per hour. During its approach, the asteroid will be about 0.00378 astronomical units or 351,000 miles from the planet’s center.

The second asteroid that will visit Earth’s vicinity on Friday is known as 2020 KD1. According to CNEOS, this asteroid measures about 52 feet wide. It is currently traveling across the Solar System towards Earth at a speed of almost 20,000 miles per hour.

2020 KD1 will fly past Earth at 6:52 a.m. EDT from a distance of 0.00267 astronomical units or about 248,000 miles away. This is almost equivalent to the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Trailing behind 2020 KD1 is an asteroid known as 2020 JH2. With an estimated diameter of 236 feet wide, 2020 KD1 is the largest asteroid in the group. According to CNEOS, this massive space rock is currently flying across space at a speed of almost 34,000 miles per hour.

CNEOS noted that this asteroid would approach Earth at 8:16 a.m. EDT. During this time, 2020 JH2 will safely approach Earth from a distance of 0.02757 astronomical units or about 256,000 miles away.

The last asteroid that will visit Earth’s neighborhood tomorrow is called 2020 JY1. According to CNEOS, this asteroid measures about 164 feet wide and is moving across the Solar System at an average velocity of over 19,000 miles per hour.

2020 JY1 is expected to make its near-Earth approach at 3:56 p.m. EDT. It will fly past the planet from about 0.00790 astronomical units or 734,000 miles away.