Two rare asteroids will zoom close to Earth this week, within just 42 hours of each other.
Due to their size and trajectory, both space rocks are labeled as ‘potentially hazardous’. But that doesn’t mean they pose an immediate threat to Earth.
In fact, they will both fly by safely at thousands of miles per hour. According to the European Space Agency, there is a zero percent chance that either of them will collide with our planet.
None of these asteroids will be visible to the naked eye, but you may be able to see them with a telescope or binoculars, Gianluca Masi, astrophysicist and founder of The Virtual Telescope Project, told Business Insider via email.
Or you can watch them via livestreams hosted by The Virtual Telescope Project:
Use this link to watch Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21 fly by Earth on Thursday, June 27, starting at 4:00 PM ET.
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And this link to watch Asteroid 2024 MK fly by on Saturday, June 29, starting at 5:00 PM ET.
Mountain-sized asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21
Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21 is one of the largest asteroids to recently pass near Earth, Masi wrote in a press statement.
With an estimated diameter of about 2.3 kilometers, this mountainous space rock is larger than 99% of all known objects near Earth, according to the European Space Agency.
Asteroid 2011 UL21 falls into a class of space rocks known as “planet killers,” which are at least 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) wide. If one were to crash into Earth, it would cause continental-scale damage and potentially kick up enough dust to cause significant climate changes for years, Live Science reported.
For example, the asteroid Chicxulub, which is responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs, was about 10.5 kilometers in diameter and was estimated to have caused global warming 100,000 years after the impact.
Fortunately, UL21 2011 won’t be close enough on Thursday to cause any concern. It will sneak past Earth at a safe distance of more than 6 million kilometers, which is 17 times farther than the distance between Earth and the moon, Masi wrote.
But this flight is notable because 2011 UL21 is among the top 10 largest asteroids to pass close to Earth in the past 125 years, he added.
Newly discovered asteroid 2024 MK
Asteroid 2024 MK was first discovered earlier this month, just 13 days before it is due to pass Earth at a remarkably close distance, the European Space Agency said.
It is much smaller than 2011’s UL21, with an estimated diameter of between 390 and 885 feet. That’s about the length of one to 2.5 football fields.
But what this asteroid lacks in size, it should make up for in brightness. It will come within 300,000 kilometers of Earth, which is about 77% of the average distance between Earth and the moon, Masi wrote.
Its proximity makes it one of the brightest objects of its kind observed in recent history, he added.
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
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