Two asteroids will fly past Earth on June 27 and 29. The second asteroid in particular is a real chunk of 2km in diameter – but no danger to Earth.
In two days, two asteroids will zoom past Earth.
Photo: ESA/ P. Carril
There will be a spectacular sight in the sky this week: two large asteroids will pass Earth. The rare event coincides with this year’s Asteroid Day, which aims to raise awareness of the dangers of asteroids and the need to monitor them. Despite their size, neither asteroid poses a threat to our planet.
2024 MK: Just discovered
Asteroid 2024 MK is 120 to 260 meters in size and was discovered on June 16, 2024. It will pass Earth 13 days later, on June 29. This time coincides with Asteroid Day. 2024 MK will pass Earth at a distance of about 290,000 kilometers, which is about 75% of the distance between Earth and the Moon. Despite its proximity, the asteroid is in no danger of hitting Earth.
The late discovery of 2024 MK highlights the importance of further developing our technologies for detecting and tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs). Thanks to its size and relative proximity, 2024 MK was visible to amateur astronomers on June 29 under clear skies and with a small telescope.
Asteroid 2024 MK was discovered on June 16, 2024. Luckily it didn’t hit the ground.
Photo: It
(415029) 2011 UL21: Large Asteroid
The second asteroid, (415029) 2011 UL21, is the larger of the two observers at 2,310 meters in diameter. However, it won’t come anywhere near as close to Earth as 2024 MK. It will reach its closest point to Earth on June 27, and will still be 17 times farther than the Moon.
Interestingly, 2011 UL21 has a very inclined orbit around the Sun, which is unusual for such a massive object. Most massive objects in the Solar System, such as planets and asteroids, orbit the Sun in or near the equatorial plane. This deviation may have been caused by gravitational interactions with a large planet like Jupiter. Such interactions can deflect asteroids that previously posed no threat toward Earth. So understanding this process is very important.
The large asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21 was discovered several years ago.
Photo: It
Asteroid Day 2024: Meaning and Functions
Asteroid Day, proclaimed by the United Nations, commemorates the largest asteroid impact in history: the 1908 Tunguska event in Siberia. During that time, about 80 million trees were destroyed, fortunately mostly in uninhabited areas.
The European Space Agency (ESA) plays an important role in the detection and monitoring of asteroids. Over the past two decades, ESA has discovered and studied many dangerous asteroids. It is estimated that there are about five million NEOs, meaning near-Earth objects greater than 20 meters – above which the entrance could be damaged by an impact on Earth.
ESA’s Planetary Defense Office is working on various projects to improve the ability to detect, track and respond to hazardous asteroids. A case in point is the Hera mission, which is slated to launch this year. NASA’s DART mission will conduct a detailed study of the Hera asteroid demorphoses after impact in September 2022. Its mission is to develop and improve techniques for planetary protection.
Technological advances and future plans
To monitor the sky, ESA is building a network of Flyeye telescopes that scan the entire sky every night. Inspired by the eyes of insects, these telescopes are designed to detect new dangerous asteroids. In addition, ESA’s NEOMIR satellite will be positioned between Earth and the Sun and will use infrared light to detect asteroids that cannot be seen from Earth due to glare from sunlight.
ESA’s Planetary Protection Office continues to monitor the sky. The ESA Fireball Camera in Cáceres, Spain captured a spectacular meteor shower on the night of May 18-19, 2024. The meteor, believed to be a small fragment of a comet, flew over Spain and Portugal at about 100,000 mph (162,000 km/h) before burning up over the Atlantic.
On June 6, 2024, the Catalina Sky Survey discovered a small 2 to 4 meter asteroid in Arizona, USA. The discovery prompted a warning from ESA’s upcoming impact monitoring system. Although the asteroid didn’t hit Earth, it flew by just 1,750 km – the second smallest known non-impact asteroid flyby.
