2012 DK31, 2006 BE55, 2007 ED125 and 2021 QW are the pretty names of these huge NEOs, classified as “potentially dangerous” by NASA, which have grazed Earth this week.
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A disaster was unlikely since the nearest pebble passed 3.5 million kilometers from Earth.
The first two came on Monday and Tuesday and the other two were on Friday.
Even if the risks of collision were slim, NASA remained on the lookout since a simple modification of trajectory would be enough to cause an impact.
The first asteroid, 137 meters in size, approached Monday at a distance of regarding 4.8 million kilometers from Earth.
The second “visit” took place on Tuesday with the Apollo-like asteroid. The 2006 BE55 is already known; it crosses Earth’s orbit every four to five years. It passed a little closer to Earth than Monday’s, regarding 3.6 million kilometers.
The biggest of them, the 2007 ED125, is 213 meters wide. It “grazed” the Earth at 4.5 million kilometers on Friday.
On the same day, a fourth pebble crossed the blue planet. Although even more distant, it approaches Earth every two years.
NASA’s Center for the Study of Near-Earth Objects (CNEOS) keeps a record of upcoming asteroid approaches. Trajectories are calculated for the next 100 years.
You can consult it here: https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/
– According to information from Science&Vie
