170-ft wide asteroid among 5 flying by Earth today
About five asteroids are headed in the direction of Earth between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday early morning, media reports quoted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as saying. The asteroids are expected to make close passes of the Earth at 50,000mph, a report said. It said that the American space agency has put all of them on its 'close approach' list.
The space rocks are called 2020 KK7, 2020 KD4, 2020 KF, 2020 KJ1 and 2020 KE4. The first asteroid, 2020 KK7, is said to have flown past the Earth at 4.43 am EDT or 2.13 pm IST. According to the experts, the asteroid was predicted to be up to 108 feet wide.
Asteroid 2020 KD4
Asteroid 2020 KD4 will be the next space rock heading past Earth today. It could be as wide as 115 feet. It is expected to fly by at 12,000 miles per hour at 8.47 am EDT or 6.17 IST, at a range of 2.5 million miles away.
Asteroid 2020 KF
2020 KF is the largest of the asteroids. It measures 144-foot in diameter, which will fire past our planet at 24,000 miles per hour at 12.00 pm EDT or 9.30 pm IST.
Asteroid 2020 KJ1
The 105-feet asteroid 2020 KJ1, treading along at 11,000 miles per hour, flying by Earth at 2.57 pm EDT, passing some 1.3 million miles from the Earth at its closest factor.
Asteroid 2020 KE4
The last one is the asteroid 2020 KE4. It has an estimated diameter of about 171 feet. According to CNEOS, the asteroid is currently headed for our planet at a speed of over 20,000 miles per hour, a report published in the International Business Times reads.
Will the asteroids have any impact on the Earth?
The asteroids will most likely not cause any harm to the Earth even if it hits the planet during one of its near-intersection flybys. According to the International Business Times report, the asteroid will most likely burn up in the atmosphere and explode in the sky.
