An asteroid the size of a double-decker bus flew near Earth on Wednesday evening at 11:37 p.m.
The giant rock, named 2024 DW, was expected to approach 225,308 km from our planet, which is closer than the moon.
The planetoid was 12 meters in diameter and was moving at more than 64,374 km/h. But even if the asteroid brushed against Earth, its presence poses no threat to our planet or that of most circulating objects nearby, Dr. Minjae Kim from the University of Warwick.
“The presence of our oceans reduces the possibility of a direct impact on the land,” he points out. However, a collision with an asteroid remains a concern.
“If an asteroid were to become a threat, the public would of course be informed of the situation by NASA,” said Dr. Kim.
According to futurism, an object would have to be 60 miles wide to wipe out life on Earth.
Rock 2024 DW was discovered by astronomers working on the Mount Lemmon Survey, a project based in Tucson, Arizona.
Due to its proximity to Earth, the asteroid has been classified as a near-Earth object and is being closely monitored by NASA. The orbit of these objects brings them close to our planet, making them potentially dangerous.
Rock 2024 DW is one of the closest objects to Earth.
According to the New York Post.