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<ul><li><keyword id="9840459" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="asteroid-11-es4">Asteroid 11 ES4</keyword>, which is approaching the Earth will be closer to the planet than even the Moon on September 1. </li><li>This will be the asteroid’s closest proximity to the planet till date.</li><li>The next asteroid who will get this close to Earth will only show up 12 years down the line</li></ul>Many asteroids come and go but most keep their distance from Earth as they fly past. Now one daring asteroid is set to come closer to the planet — closer than even the Moon on September 1. Officially recognized as <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi?find_body=1&amp;body_group=sb&amp;sstr=2011%20ES4">Asteroid 11 ES4</a>, the space rock will be a mere 121,000 kilometers (kms) from Earth as it shoots past the planet next week. The moon, on the other hand, is three times further away at 384,400 kms. In fact, Asteroid 11 ES 4 will be the only near-Earth object to venture in this close for another decade. Only in 2032 will another asteroid — <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008%20DB">2008 DB</a> — come within the same distance of Earth. Not only is this a milestone for the planet, but it’s also the asteroid’s closest encounter to Earth till date. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (<a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2011%20ES4;old=0;orb=0;cov=0;log=0;cad=1#cad">JPL</a>) database shows that the asteroid has made eight close approaches since 1987 but none as intimate as next week. Before its fly by next week, Asteroid 11 ES 4’s closest approach to Earth was on 13 March 2011, which is when it was first spotted by astronomers and catalogued. Asteroid 11 ES 4’s closest approach <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Date </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Distance from Earth </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10 September 1987 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">20,368,150 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">27 February 1994 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">39,115,642 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">23 September 2004 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">65,568,944 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">13 March 2011 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4,268,643 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">27 November 2011 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">55,565,337 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10 September 2012 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">26,499,097 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4 March 2019 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">22,653,322 kms </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">14 December 2019 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">55,773,685 kms </td></tr></tbody></table> The asteroid does not pose a threat to Earth. Even if it did, the space rock is only between 22 metres to 49 meters in diameter — approximately the size of a plane. If it were to break through Earth’s atmosphere, it would likely burn up on the way down. As the asteroid makes its fly by, it will be travelling at 29,376 kms per hour. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/kepler-supernova-exploded-400-years-ago-but-hasnt-slowed-down-and-two-pieces-of-debris-are-headed-towards-earth/articleshow/77646381.cms">Kepler supernova exploded 400 years ago but hasn’t slowed down — and two pieces of debris are headed towards Earth</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/mars-spotted-first-time-by-uae-hope-probe-on-its-maiden-voyage-in-space/articleshow/77775267.cms">UAE’s Hope probe spots Mars for the very first time on its maiden voyage through space</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/isro-chandrayaan-2-identifies-craters-that-may-have-water-after-mapping-4-million-square-kilometres-of-the-moon-in-its-first-year/slidelist/77667105.cms">ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 identifies craters that may have water after mapping 4 million square kilometres of the Moon in its first year</a>

No other asteroid is going to get closer to Earth in the next decade than the one set to fly by on September 1

<ul><li>Asteroid 2019 SR8 will be flying past Earth today. </li><li>The asteroid will be travelling over ten times as fast as a rifle bullet. </li><li>It is around half the size of the Statue of Liberty. </li></ul>The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/">Asteroid Watch</a> is on the lookout for an asteroid that will be zooming past Earth. And, it is faster than a bullet. The speed of an average rifle bullet is 3,276 kilometers per hour (kmph) but Asteroid 2019 SR8 will be flying at more than ten times that speed — at 35,350 kmph. Size matters On the one hand, Asteroid 2019 SR8 isn’t a very <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-earth-this-year/articleshow/70686096.cms">big asteroid</a>. It measures between 20 meters to 44 meters in diameter — that’s half the height of the Statue of Liberty. On the other, its closest approach to Earth will only be 5 million kilometers from the planet. This may seem like a large distance but it’s enough for NASA to classify the incoming asteroid as a ‘close approach’ or a ‘near-Earth object’. It’s one of the many Apollo asteroids — an asteroid that orbits around the Sun and the Earth — to come visit. Final impact Even though Asteroid 2019 SR8 will be under the close, watchful eye of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), the probability of an actual <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-other-scientists-believe-asteroids-will-eventually-hit-earth/articleshow/70644547.cms">asteroid impact</a> is low. Should the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/asteroid-hitting-earth-and-ending-life-has-to-be-bigger-than-the-one-that-killed-dinosaurs/articleshow/70893317.cms">asteroid’s trajectory change</a>, its small size dictates that it will probably break up in Earth’s atmosphere. That isn’t to say an asteroid exploding mid-air won’t be harmful. It will still produce a large amount of energy equivalent to multiple nuclear explosions. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/ufologist-claims-the-god-of-chaos-asteroid-will-strike-somewhere-over-europe/articleshow/71537022.cms">Ufologist claims the ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid will strike somewhere over Europe</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/asteroid-gets-caught-changing-colours-for-the-very-first-time/articleshow/70942978.cms">Asteroid gets caught changing colours for the very first time</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-earth-this-year/articleshow/70686096.cms">The 10 biggest asteroids that could crash into Earth in 2019</a>

Asteroid flying faster than a bullet will shoot past Earth today

<ul><li>Three asteroids — 2019 RX1, 2019 QZ3 and 2019 RG2 — are going to be flying past Earth today.</li><li>Asteroid 2019 RG2's close approach to Earth will be uncomfortably close at 500,000 kilometers.</li><li>Asteroid 2019 RG2 will also be moving at record speeds of 79,164 kilometers per hour.</li></ul>Three asteroids are scheduled to fly past Earth today — and one of them is going to come as close as half a million kilometers from the surface. This is the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-happens-when-an-asteroid-actually-hits-earth/articleshow/70732006.cms">closest any asteroid</a> will get to Earth over the next three months. A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/an-asteroid-discovered-a-week-ago-will-be-flying-closest-to-earth-tonight/articleshow/70992905.cms">single asteroid</a> flying past Earth isn't an anomaly — it happens on a daily basis. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/two-asteroids-bigger-than-the-japan-tsunamis-are-coming-eerily-close-to-earth-today/articleshow/70870605.cms">Two asteroids</a> whizzing past the planet is a tad rarer, as it happens only once a month or so. Three asteroids on the same day, on the other hand, is exceptionally rare. Today, asteroids <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2019%20RX1">2019 RX1</a>, <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2019%20QZ3">2019 QZ3</a> and <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2019%20RG2">2019 RG2</a> will be making their visit close to Earth. Aside from the fact that there will be three asteroids gunning for the planet, it's even rarer for one to get this close. Most asteroids that approach the Earth are normally at least two million kilometers away. But 2019 RG2 will be a mere 524,000 kilometers away from our planet. Why size matters All three asteroids are extremely small. Asteroid 2019 QZ3 is the biggest of the three with a diameter of 38 meters, but that's only as big as the Lotus Temple in Delhi. 
 
 <div type="image" title="Lotus_Temple_at_Night_edited" msid="71042307" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Lotus Temple in New Delhi, India&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>




 Asteroid 2019 RX1 is smaller and only 28 meters in diameter — about the size of the Gateway of India in Mumbai. 
 
 <div type="image" title="Gateway_of_India_(13985936311)_edited" msid="71042355" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Gateway of India in Mumbai&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>





 2019 RG2, which will be the closest to Earth, is the smallest. It's only 11 meters in size — twice the height of an average human being. Fast and furious Because 2019 RG2 is so small, it will travel at extremely fast at speed of 79,164 kilometers per hour. This will make it the second fastest asteroid to fly past Earth in September — and even October and November. In comparison, asteroid RX1 will be travelling at nearly half the speed of 47,988 kilometers. 2019 QZ 3, the slowest of the three, will be at a mere 26,892 kilometers. The only asteroid that will be faster is the one scheduled to whizz past Earth on 24 September 2019 at a speed of 80,136 kilometers per hour. But it will be much further away — 4 million kilometers away. None of the three asteroids are on a collision course with Earth, as no alert has been issued by the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). Nonetheless, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory classified them as ‘potentially hazardous' and put them on <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/">Asteroid Watch</a>. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-earth-this-year/articleshow/70686096.cms">The 10 biggest asteroids that could crash into Earth in 2019</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-is-asteroid-meteorite-and-meteor/articleshow/70654013.cms">An asteroid only turns into a meteor if it falls to Earth</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/an-asteroid-nearly-half-the-size-of-mount-everest-might-be-on-a-collision-course-for-earth-in-less-than-a-year/articleshow/70698774.cms">An asteroid nearly half the size of Mount Everest might be on a collision course for Earth in less than a year</a>

It’s a record day for asteroids as three of them plan to fly past Earth

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An asteroid the size of a car flew within about 1,830 miles of Earth this weekend — closer than any known <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">space</keyword> rock has ever come without crashing into the planet.</li><li>A NASA-funded program detected the asteroid, called 2020 QG, six hours after its close approach.</li><li>If the asteroid had hit Earth, it probably would have exploded in the atmosphere in an airburst too high up to do any damage on the ground.</li><li>But the near miss highlights a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/comet-neowise-surprise-appearance-earth-unprepared-for-asteroids-2020-7">major blind spot</a> in Earth's programs to search for dangerous <keyword id="81841" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Asteroids">asteroids</keyword>.</li></ul>A car-size asteroid flew within about 1,830 miles (2,950 kilometers) of Earth on Sunday.That's a remarkably close shave — the closest ever recorded, in fact, according to asteroid trackers and a <a href="http://www.brera.mi.astro.it/sormano/teca.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">catalog</a> compiled by Sormano Astronomical Observatory in Italy. Because of its size, the space rock most likely wouldn't have posed any danger to people on the ground had it struck our planet. But the close call is worrisome nonetheless, since astronomers had no idea the asteroid existed until after it passed by."The asteroid approached undetected from the direction of the sun," Paul Chodas, the director of <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword>'s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, told Business Insider. "We didn't see it coming."Instead, the Palomar Observatory in California <a href="https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=2020+QG" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first detected the space rock</a> about six hours after it flew by Earth.Chodas confirmed the record-breaking nature of the event: "Yesterday's close approach is closest on record, if you discount a few known asteroids that have actually impacted our planet," he said.NASA knows about only a fraction of <keyword id="1821718" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="near-Earth-objects">near-Earth objects</keyword> (NEOs) like this one. Many do not cross any telescope's line of sight, and several potentially dangerous asteroids have snuck up on scientists in recent years. If the wrong one slipped through the gaps in our NEO-surveillance systems, it could kill tens of thousands of people. <h2>2020 QG flew over the Southern Hemisphere</h2>This recent near-Earth asteroid was initially called <a href="https://www.projectpluto.com/neocp2/mpecs/ZTF0DxQ.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ZTF0DxQ</a> but is now formally known to astronomers as <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2020%20QG" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2020 QG</a>. Business Insider first learned about it from Tony Dunn, the creator of the website orbitsimulator.com."Newly-discovered asteroid ZTF0DxQ passed less than 1/4 Earth diameter yesterday, making it the closest-known flyby that didn't hit our planet," Dunn <a href="https://twitter.com/tony873004/status/1295390969613840386" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> on Monday. He shared the animation below, republished here with permission.The sped-up simulation shows the approximate orbital path of 2020 QG as it careened by at a speed of about 7.7 miles per second (12.4 kilometers per second) or about 27,600 mph.Early observations suggest the space rock flew over the Southern Hemisphere just after 4 a.m. Universal Time (midnight ET) on Sunday.The animation above shows 2020 QG flying over the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. However, the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center calculated a slightly different trajectory. The group's <a href="https://minorplanetcenter.net/neo/view?date=2459077.65&amp;label=2020%20QG&amp;packed_desig=K20Q00G=K20Q00G" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rendering</a> (shown at the beginning of this story), suggests the asteroid flew over the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles east of Australia.<h2>Not dangerous, but definitely not welcome</h2>As far as space rocks go, 2020 QG wasn't too dangerous.Telescope observations suggest the object is between 6 feet (2 meters) and 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide — somewhere between the size of a small car and an extended-cab pickup truck. But even if it was on the largest end of that spectrum and made of dense iron (most asteroids are rocky), only small pieces of such an asteroid may have reached the ground, according to the "<a href="https://www.purdue.edu/impactearth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Impact Earth</a>" simulator from Purdue University and Imperial College London.Such an asteroid would have exploded in the atmosphere, creating a brilliant fireball and unleashing an airburst equivalent to detonating a couple dozen kilotons of TNT. That's about the same as one of the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in 1945. But the airburst would have happened about 2 or 3 miles above the ground, so it wouldn't have sounded any louder than heavy traffic to people on the ground.This doesn't make the asteroid's discovery much less unnerving, though — it does not take a huge space rock to create a big problem.<div type="image" title="chelyabinsk asteroid simulation darrel robertson sc15 nasa" height="1013" width="1500" msid="77602990" hostid="261"></div>Take, for example, the roughly 66-foot-wide (20-meter) asteroid that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chelyabinsk-meteor-mystery-3-years-later-2016-2">exploded without warning over Chelyabinsk, Russia</a>, in February 2013. That space rock created a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/no-one-saw-chelyabinsk-meteor-over-russia-coming-could-happen-again-2016-4">superbolide event</a>, unleashing an airburst equivalent to 500 kilotons of TNT — about 30 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nukemap-virtual-reality-nuclear-bomb-explosion-simulator-new-york-city-2019-8">Hiroshima nuclear bombs</a>' worth of energy. The explosion, which began about 12 miles (20 kilometers) above Earth, triggered a blast wave that shattered windows in six Russian cities and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032063317303884" target="_blank" rel="noopener">injured about 1,500 people</a>.And in July 2019, a 427-foot (130-meter) asteroid called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-flies-close-to-earth-surprising-scientists-2019-7">2019 OK passed within 45,000 miles</a> (72,400 kilometers) of our planet, or less than 20% of the distance between <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/earth-moon-distance-edge-of-outer-space-2018-5">Earth and the moon</a>. Astronomers detected that rock less than a week before its closest approach, leading one scientist to tell The Washington Post that the asteroid essentially appeared "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/07/26/it-snuck-up-us-city-killer-asteroid-just-missed-earth-scientists-almost-didnt-detect-it-time/?utm_term=.68769f07439a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">out of nowhere</a>."In an unlikely direct hit to a city, such a wayward space rock <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073191" target="_blank" rel="noopener">might kill tens of thousands of people</a>.NASA is actively scanning the skies for such threats, as Congress has <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/1281/text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">required</a> it to do since 2005. However, the agency is mandated to detect only 90% of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-detection-mission-neocam-nasa-funding-astronaut-support-2018-11">"city killer" space rocks</a> larger than about 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter.In May 2019, NASA said it had found <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/neoo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">less than half of the estimated 25,000 objects</a> of that size or larger. And of course, that doesn't count smaller rocks such as the Chelyabinsk and 2019 OK asteroids.Objects that come from the direction of the sun, meanwhile — like 2020 QG — are notoriously difficult to spot."There's not much we can do about detecting inbound asteroids coming from the sunward direction, as asteroids are detected using optical <keyword id="62018" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Telescopes">telescopes</keyword> only (like ZTF), and we can only search for them in the night sky," Chodas said. "The idea is that we discover them on one of their prior passages by our planet, and then make predictions years and decades in advance to see whether they have any possibility of impacting."NASA has a plan to address these gaps in its asteroid-hunting program. The agency is in the early stages of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-space-telescope-to-detect-deadly-asteroids-2019-9">developing a space telescope</a> that could detect asteroids and comets coming from the sun's direction. NASA's 2020 budget allotted nearly $36 million for that telescope, called the Near-Earth Object Surveillance Mission. If funding continues, it could launch as early as 2025.This story has been updated with new information.

A car-size asteroid flew within 1,830 miles of Earth over the weekend — the closest pass ever — and we didn't see it coming

<ul class="summary-list"><li>An <keyword id="6549794" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="asteroid">asteroid</keyword> has a slim chance of entering the <keyword id="6359982" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="earth">Earth</keyword>'s atmosphere on November 2.</li><li>That's one day before the US <keyword id="6359191" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="election">election</keyword>.</li><li>Because of its small size, the asteroid, dubbed 2018VP1, would burn off while hurtling toward the planet.</li></ul>An asteroid has a slim chance of entering the Earth's atmosphere on November 2, one day before the US election, according to <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword>.Named 2018VP1, the asteroid is pretty tiny, <a href="https://twitter.com/AsteroidWatch/status/1297576303206576133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1297576303206576133%7Ctwgr%5E&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.as.com%2Fen%2F2020%2F08%2F24%2Flatest_news%2F1598229102_746126.htmlhtml">according to NASA data</a>.It has only a 0.41% likelihood of entering Earth's atmosphere, but celestial objects that size tend to burn up anyway before reaching the ground, NASA told Business Insider."Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approximately 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth," a NASA representative told Business Insider. That's about 2 meters long, like a refrigerator. "If it were to enter our planet's atmosphere, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size."2018VP1 has had a few close encounters with Earth before, dating back to 1970. It most recently visited in November 2018, roughly when it was discovered <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/22/us/asteroid-earth-november-2020-scn-trnd/index.html">at California's Palomar Observatory</a>.It's due back, after a <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2018VP1;old=0;orb=1;cov=0;log=0;cad=0#orb">two-year orbit around the sun</a>, to come within 4,800 to 260,000 miles of our atmosphere, <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/">NASA data shows</a>. For reference, the International <keyword id="41531" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="space">Space</keyword> Station sits about 254 miles above the planet.The size of asteroids like this one makes them hard to spot until they get close to Earth, but most pass by much farther away than the moon, <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7728">NASA said in a recent release</a>.In fact, one dubbed 2020 QG passed just 1,830 miles above the Indian Ocean last week — the closest such encounter on record — and NASA didn't even see it coming, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/asteroid-2020qg-closest-fly-by-earth-on-record-nasa-astronomers/">it said</a>.In 2005, NASA was <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-search-for-asteroids-to-help-protect-earth-and-understand-our-history/">directed by Congress</a> to discover 90% of potentially dangerous asteroids larger than 459 feet in size by the end of 2020."It's quite an accomplishment to find these tiny close-in asteroids in the first place, because they pass by so fast," said Paul Chodas, the director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California."There's typically only a short window of a couple of days before or after close approach when this small of an asteroid is close enough to Earth to be bright enough but not so close that it moves too fast in the sky to be detected by a telescope," he said.Between the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> pandemic, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/george-floyd-protests-defining-history-politics-election-black-lives-matter-2020-6">a reckoning with racial justice</a>, sky-high <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/13/cdc-mental-health-pandemic-394832">depression and anxiety</a>, election season, and other recent events, people are joking about the asteroid's perceived embodiment of 2020."It seems like 2020 just won't let up," the Milwaukee-based Fox 6 Now <a href="https://twitter.com/fox6now/status/1297292466521960448">wrote on Twitter</a>.

NASA: A fridge-size asteroid is headed toward Earth one day before the November election

<ul><li>Asteroid 2019 GT3 is going to fly past Earth on Friday at a speed of 49,000 kilometers. </li><li>The asteroid is about as big as a football stadium. </li><li>It's not on a collision course for Earth but is still one of the asteroids classified as 'potentially hazardous' by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA). </li></ul>The Earth is under <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-is-asteroid-meteorite-and-meteor/articleshow/70654013.cms">constant threat</a> of asteroids but most fly past and don't actually hit the planet. Asteroid 2019 GT3 is one such asteroid that is 'potentially hazardous' but will be at least 7.5 million kilometers away from the Earth. Asteroid 2019 GT3 is a new addition to the NASA's <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/">Asteroid Watch</a> only discovered earlier this year in April 2019. It's about as big as a stadium with a diameter between 170 meters and 380 meters. When it blasts past Earth on 6 September 2019, it will be flying at a speed of 49,000 kilometers per hour. "Potentially hazardous asteroids are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid's potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth," states the Center for Near Earth Object Studies "Specifically, all asteroids with a minimum orbit intersection distance of 0.5 [astronomical units] or less and an absolute magnitude of 22.0 or less are considered PHAs," it added. Asteroid's 'potential' for destruction There's no chance of Asteroid 2019 GT3 striking Earth. Even if it were to somehow be on a collision course for the planet, the asteroid wouldn't cause any kind of '<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-other-scientists-believe-asteroids-will-eventually-hit-earth/articleshow/70644547.cms">mass extinction</a>' but it would definitely take out a small city. Scientists believe that an asteroid impact would result in a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-happens-when-an-asteroid-actually-hits-earth/articleshow/70732006.cms">'nuclear'-like winter</a> on the planet. It would only take an asteroid as big as a house travelling at 48,000 kilometers an hour to have an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-last-major-asteroid-to-hit-earth-destroyed-500-square-kilometers-and-it-could-have-been-much-worse/articleshow/70782507.cms">impact equivalent</a> to that of the Hiroshima bomb blast. By that comparison, Asteroid 2019 GT3 is bigger and faster. And, it's even more concerning in light of even more massive asteroids that are planned to come uncomfortably close to Earth in the near future. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/an-asteroid-nearly-half-the-size-of-mount-everest-might-be-on-a-collision-course-for-earth-in-less-than-a-year/articleshow/70698774.cms">1992 OR2</a>, for instance, is half the size of Everest and will only be 6.4 million kilometers from Earth as it flies by on 29 April 2020. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-10-biggest-asteroids-that-could-crash-into-earth-this-year/articleshow/70686096.cms">The 10 biggest asteroids that could crash into Earth in 2019</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-last-major-asteroid-to-hit-earth-destroyed-500-square-kilometers-and-it-could-have-been-much-worse/articleshow/70782507.cms">The last major asteroid to hit Earth destroyed 500 square kilometers — and it could have been much worse</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-other-scientists-believe-asteroids-will-eventually-hit-earth/articleshow/70644547.cms">It might not be 'dinosaur destroying' but it's only a matter of time before an asteroid hits Earth</a>

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No other asteroid is going to get closer to Earth in the next decade than the one set to fly by on September 1

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Asteroid flying faster than a bullet will shoot past Earth today

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A car-size asteroid flew within 1,830 miles of Earth over the weekend — the closest pass ever — and we didn't see it coming

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NASA: A fridge-size asteroid is headed toward Earth one day before the November election

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A 'potentially hazardous' asteroid will whiz past earth at 49,000 km/hr on Friday

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