FOUR near Earth asteroids will be making a close approach to Earth on the same day Joe Biden is set to become the 46th President of the US.
Nasa has its eye on the space rocks that will be skimming past Earth on Wednesday, January 20.
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The largest of the space rocks is called Asteroid 2021 BL.
Nasa estimates it could be up to 302 foot in diameter, which would make it almost as big as the Statue of Liberty.
That asteroid should be skimming past Earth last at around 19:47 UTC.
It will be travelling at around 29,000 miles per hour and could come around 600,000 miles away from Earth, according to Nasa’s estimates.
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In the grand scheme of space this isn’t a large distance at all, so the US space agency has flagged it as a “close approach”.
Any fast moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be “potentially hazardous” by cautious space organisations.
The smallest of the four asteroids is called Asteroid 2021 BL.
It could be up to 118 foot and will be closest to Earth in the early hours of January 20.
The space rock should be around 1 million miles away from Earth at its closest approach.
It’s also expected to travel at around 29,000 miles per hour.
The other two asteroids Nasa will have its eye on during the highly anticipated inauguration day are called Asteroid 2021 BS and Asteroid 2021 AC6.
They could be up to 151 foot and 174 foot respectively.
The larger of the two should shoot past Earth first at around 08:13.
It will be around 1.8 million miles from Earth and travelling at just over 30,000 miles per hour.
Asteroid 2021 BS will follow in the early afternoon with speeds of 25,000 miles per hour.
It should be the asteroid that stays the furthest away from our planet at 3.6 million miles away.
None of the asteroids are expected to collide with Earth.
What’s the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
Here’s what you need to know, according to Nasa…
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it’ll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn’t vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth’s atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vapourising)
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What do you think of these asteroids? Let us know in the comments…
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
