On Thursday, October 24, several asteroids made their closest approaches to Earth, each passing within a 24-hour window. According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), two of these asteroids passed by in the early morning, while the remaining ones made their passes later in the day, though they were not observable from the ground.
Although the orbits of these asteroids mark the closest recorded approaches to Earth, they remained at a considerable distance, making it difficult for people to see them move through space.
NASA scientists define a close approach as when these asteroids come within 4.6 million miles from Earth’s surface, which is roughly 19.5 times the distance between the Moon and Earth.
The average distance from Earth’s surface to the Moon is 239,000 miles, although this distance varies at different points in the Moon’s orbit.
The skyscraper-sized asteroid 2002 NV16 is illustrated making its closest approach to Earth on Thursday, October 24, 2024, according to NASA.
When an asteroid has a diameter larger than about 150 meters (approximately 490 feet) and flies close to Earth within this range, scientists classify it as a “potentially hazardous object.”
One of the asteroids passing by Earth on Thursday exceeded this size threshold. Named 2002 NV16, it was discovered in 2002 and has a diameter of approximately 177 meters (580 feet), equivalent to the height of a 50-story building.
This asteroid flew past Earth at a distance of 2.8 million miles. NASA released a diagram showing its orbit around Earth, the Sun, and several nearby planets in the solar system.
NASA tracks close approaches and calculates the likelihood of collisions with meteoroids, asteroids, and small comets. According to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL): “Most near-Earth objects have orbits that do not bring them close to Earth, and therefore pose no collision risk. However, a small fraction of these—referred to as potentially hazardous asteroids—require closer monitoring.”
Three other large asteroids also passed by Earth on Thursday, all significantly smaller than 2002 NV16. Their sizes ranged from 23 to 52 meters (76 to 176 feet), and NASA classifies them as being comparable in size to an airplane.
Among these, the smallest asteroid made its closest approach to Earth at a distance of about 1.5 million miles from the surface.
Additionally, a fifth asteroid also flew past Earth on Thursday, but it was much smaller. With a diameter of just 16 feet (about 5 meters), its size is comparable to that of an SUV. This asteroid approached Earth at a closest distance of 184,000 miles.
