110-feet-wide asteroid heading towards Earth can leave ‘Paris-sized’ crater

In the next 5 days, at least 5 asteroids will whizz past the Earth, and of these, at least three will be colossal plane-sized, which, as per astronauts, is alarming. The biggest of the five is the 110-feet-wide 2022 OT1 asteroid that will come within 4.7 million kilometres of Earth on Sunday early morning. 

2022 OT1 asteroid will be travelling at a speed of 5.7 kilometres per second at its closest approach (around 3:23 AM Indian time) which is around 20,520 kilometres an hour.

According to NASA, an asteroid of this size can leave a Paris-sized crater if it hits the Earth. However, current models do not indicate that there is any likelihood of that happening, in spite of the precariously close approach.

The 100-feet-wide 2022 PK1 asteroid, the second largest of the lot, was only 5.2 million kilometres away when it passed by our world on August 11.

Here are the 5 asteroids that will fly past Earth in next 5 days: 

• 53-foot 2015 FF that will zoom past Earth on August 12
• 2022 OT1 on August 14
• 71-foot 2022 OA4 on August 14 
• 110-feet-wide 2022 OT1 asteroid on August 14
• 93-foot 2022 PW on August 16

NASA’s Asteroid Watch tracks asteroids and comets that come within 7.5 million kilometres of our planet, which is about 19.5 times the distance between the Earth and the moon. Any object larger than 150 metres that approach the Earth within this distance is classified as a potentially hazardous object, as their interaction with our gravity at this range can spell disastrous consequences if they lay undetected.

In the last couple of days, several asteroids dangerously fly past the Earth, which could have caused a major accident if one of them had hit the planet.