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Asteroid Alerts: Earth Braces for Multiple Space Rock Flybys
25 Mar
Summary
- Several asteroids are making close approaches to Earth this week.
- The largest tracked asteroid is about 68 feet wide.
- Impacts from smaller asteroids are common but rarely cause damage.
Several asteroids are scheduled to make close approaches to Earth this week, prompting ongoing monitoring by NASA. The space rock 2026 FM3, approximately 15 feet in diameter, will have its closest encounter tomorrow at a distance of 148,000 miles. Earlier today, a plane-sized asteroid known as 2026 FX3, about 68 feet across, passed by. Additional space rocks, including 2026 FT2 (49 feet) and 2026 FQ2, are also in Earth's vicinity.
While small asteroids up to 30 feet wide impact Earth roughly every decade, they generally do not pose a hazard, typically causing only a bright fireball and sonic boom. Larger impacts, such as those from asteroids 160 feet or more, occur much less frequently, about once every 1,000 years, and could cause local devastation. Asteroids over 3,000 feet are capable of causing global devastation and only impact Earth every 700,000 years.
Scientists continue to track potential impact threats. An asteroid named 2024 YR4, previously noted for a 3.1% chance of Earth impact in 2032, is now considered unlikely to strike our planet. Current calculations suggest it might instead collide with the Moon in December 2032. NASA anticipates further observations of 2024 YR4 in 2028.
