22 June 2023 , 14:53
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An asteroid the size of 37 double-decker buses is set to float past Earth this weekend, in one of four close encounters of its kind.
The four asteroids of varying sizes have been noted by NASA as "close approaches" but do not pose any threat.
The largest of the four was first discovered more than 20 years ago in 2002 and was named 467336 (2002 LT38) by the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
It is due to pass by on Saturday, June 24 and according to NASA's calculations has the diameter as much as 450 meters - or the equivalent of 37 London buses.
The other three passing by are:
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- Asteroid 2023 MU, set to pass Earth on Friday, June 23, has a diameter of around 93 metres
- Asteroid 2008 LG2, set to pass Earth on Saturday, June 24, has a diameter of around 54 metres
- Asteroid 2023 MF1, set to pass Earth on Sunday, June 24, has a diameter of around 66 metres
Four will fly by this weekend (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Asteroids are bodies of rock which can measure anything up to 600 miles across and which orbit the sun.
Fewer than 10,000 of the asteroids which could one day pose a threat to the Earth have so far been identified.
Any asteroid travelling within 30 million miles of Earth's orbit is classified as a NEO, and NASA classes them as "potentially hazardous objects” if they come within 4.6 million miles of Earth's orbit and having a diameter greater than 460 feet.
Last year a NASA spacecraft deliberately crashed into an asteroid in a successful mission to nudge it off course as part of a planetary defence.
It is the first time humanity has altered the natural orbit of a such as the rocky moonlet.
NASA chief Bill Nelson said: "This is a watershed moment for planetary defence and a watershed moment for humanity.
The DART spacecraft achieved its main goal of changing the direction of an asteroid through sheer kinetic force, according to findings from telescope observations unveiled by NASA.
Known as a suicide test flight, the $330million (£258m) DART mission took place on September 26.
Seven years in the making, it marks the world's first test of a planetary defence system designed to prevent a potential doomsday meteorite collision with Earth.
The DART flight's target was an egg-shaped asteroid named Dimorphos – roughly the size of a football stadium.
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It was orbiting a parent asteroid about five times bigger called Didymos once every 11 hours and 55 minutes.
Measurements taken of the asteroid's orbit before and after the collision showed its journey had been shortened by 32 minutes.
This proves the method could be used to deflect an asteroid from a collision course with Earth, if such an asteroid were ever discovered.