NASA Warns Three Asteroids With Earth-Intersecting Orbits Headed For The Planet

NASA warned that three asteroids with Earth-crossing orbits are expected to approach the planet tonight and tomorrow. One of the incoming asteroids is bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

According to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the first asteroid that will debut in Earth’s neighborhood is called 2019 WB5. This asteroid has an estimated diameter of about 262 feet and is currently flying towards our home planet at an impressive speed of over 49,000 miles per hour.

Trailing behind 2019 WB5 is an asteroid known as 2019 XN. This is the smallest asteroid in the group with an estimated diameter of only 59 feet. According to CNEOS, 2019 XN is currently moving across space with a velocity of almost 22,000 miles per hour.

The biggest asteroid in the group will be the last to arrive on Friday. Dubbed as 2019 WR3, this asteroid is estimated to be about 525 feet wide. CNEOS noted that it is currently approaching Earth at a speed of almost 17,000 miles per hour.

All three asteroids are near-Earth objects that have been classified as Apollos. Like other Apollo asteroids, 2019 WB5, 2019 XN and 2019 WR3 follow a very wide orbit that goes around the Earth and the Sun. Occasionally, their orbits intersect with that of Earth as the planet moves around the massive star.

If these asteroids collide with Earth during their near-intersections, the biggest ones, namely 2019 WB5 and 2019 WR3, will most likely cause impact events on Earth. The energy that would be released from these impacts would be powerful enough to wipe out entire cities. The 2019 XN asteroid, on the other hand, will probably burn up and explode in the atmosphere instead of hitting the ground.

According to CNEOS, 2019 WB5 is set to fly past Earth tonight at 10:02 pm EST from a distance of 0.04782 astronomical units or roughly 4.4 million miles away. On the other hand, 2019 XN will approach the planet on Dec. 6 at 6:45 am EST. During this time, the asteroid will be about 0.00624 astronomical units or around 580,000 miles from Earth’s center.

As for 2019 WR3, this asteroid will debut in Earth’s vicinity on Dec. 6 at 3:52 pm EST. This asteroid is expected to approach the planet from a distance of 0.03636 astronomical units or around 3.4 million miles away.