Two large asteroids safely pass Earth just 42 hours apart

Two massive asteroids will safely move Earth this week, a uncommon incidence completely timed to commemorate this yr’s Asteroid Day.

Neither poses any danger to our planet, however certainly one of them was solely found per week in the past, highlighting the necessity to proceed enhancing our potential to detect doubtlessly hazardous objects in our cosmic neighborhood.

2024 MK—lower than two weeks between discovery and flyby

Asteroid 2024 MK is between 120 and 260 m in measurement and was found on 16 June 2024. The asteroid will fly previous Earth on 29 June through the peak of this yr’s Asteroid Day actions.

2024 MK is massive for a near-Earth object (NEO) and can move inside 290 000 km of Earth’s floor—roughly 75% of the gap between Earth and the moon.

There isn’t any danger of 2024 MK impacting Earth. Nevertheless, an asteroid this measurement would trigger appreciable harm if it did, so its discovery only one week earlier than it flies previous our planet highlights the continuing want to enhance our potential to detect and monitor doubtlessly hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs).

Because of its measurement and proximity, 2024 MK can be observable in clear darkish skies on 29 June utilizing a small telescope or good binoculars for newbie astronomers in some elements of the world. Plan your observations utilizing ESA’s NEO toolkit.

(415029) 2011 UL21—bigger than 99% of near-Earth asteroids

Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21 is the bigger of the week’s guests. At 2310 m throughout, this asteroid is bigger than 99% of all identified near-Earth objects (NEOs). Nevertheless, it will not come anyplace close to as near Earth. At its closest level on 27 June, it should nonetheless be greater than 17 occasions as distant because the moon.

This asteroid’s orbit across the sun is steeply inclined, which is uncommon for such a big object. Most massive objects within the solar system, together with planets and asteroids, orbit the sun in or near the equatorial airplane.

This could possibly be the results of gravitational interactions with a big planet like Jupiter. Jupiter can deflect beforehand secure asteroids inwards in the direction of Earth, so understanding this course of is essential.

(415029) 2011 UL21 is in an ’11:34 resonance’ with Earth. It completes 11 revolutions concerning the sun in nearly the very same period of time by which Earth completes 34 revolutions (i.e. 34 years).

The result’s a nice repeating sample while you visualize the asteroid’s location relative to Earth over a interval of 34 years whereas preserving Earth fastened in place.

Asteroid Day 2024

The impact craters scarring Earth’s floor are testomony to how asteroids have drastically influenced our planet’s historical past and growth.

The UN-endorsed Asteroid Day commemorates the most important noticed asteroid strike in recorded historical past—the 1908 airburst above Tunguska in largely abandoned Siberia, which felled round 80 million timber.

This represented a fortunate escape for Europe: it occurred only a brief rotation of Earth away from affecting the continent’s extra closely populated areas.

ESA is in a singular place, with the cooperation and help of its Member States, to coordinate the info, data and experience wanted to know and reply to asteroid hazards in Europe and take part in humankind’s wider planetary protection efforts.

During the last twenty years, ESA has been performing detection and evaluation of probably hazardous NEOs. There are an estimated 5 million NEOs on the market bigger than 20 m—the edge above which an impression may trigger harm on the bottom.

ESA ramps up asteroid actions

ESA’s Planetary Protection Workplace is finishing up quite a few tasks devoted to enhancing our potential to detect, observe and mitigate doubtlessly hazardous asteroids.

Launching later this yr, ESA’s Hera mission is a part of the world’s first take a look at of asteroid deflection. Hera will carry out an in depth post-impact survey of the asteroid Dimorphos following the impression of NASA’s DART mission in September 2022 and assist flip the experiment right into a well-understood and repeatable planetary protection method. Members of the Hera workforce will participate in Asteroid Day celebrations later this week.

Again on Earth, ESA is growing a community of insect-inspired Flyeye telescopes that may use their uniquely broad subject of view to robotically scan your entire sky each night time on the hunt for brand spanking new doubtlessly hazardous asteroids.

Our future NEOMIR satellite can be situated between Earth and the sun. It is going to use infrared light to identify asteroids approaching our planet from areas of the sky which can’t be seen from the bottom as they’re obscured by the glare of our star.

In the meantime, the Planetary Protection Workplace continues to maintain an in depth eye on the sky right this moment. ESA’s fireball digital camera in Cáceres, Spain, captured a shocking meteor through the night time of 18–19 Might 2024, which is believed to have been a small piece of a comet that flew over Spain and Portugal touring at roughly 162,000 km/h earlier than burning up over the Atlantic Ocean.

Simply a few weeks later, on 6 June 2024, the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, U.S. found a small asteroid 2–4 m in measurement that triggered an alert from ESA’s imminent impression monitoring system (Meerkat).

That alert was not for an impression, however for a really shut name. A couple of hours later, the thing flew over the Catalina Sky Survey telescope that found it at a distance of simply 1750 km, making it the second closest pass of a identified, non-impacting asteroid ever.