Two asteroids to hurtle past Earth on June 5 and 6

The largest asteroid named ‘163348 (2002 NN4)’ is estimated to be between 250m and 570m in diameter.

Representational Image (IANS)

New Delhi: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is tracking a few huge asteroids on its ‘Asteroid Watch’ that may fly by Earth on June 4, June 5 and June 6, 2020.

The ‘object’ named ‘2020 KN5’ which is said to have an estimated diameter between 24m-54m is set to fly by Earth on June 4. The closest approach of this object would be around 61.9 lakh km from Earth.

The object ‘2020 KA6’ would fly by Earth on June 5 and at a distance of 44.7 lakh km from Earth. It’s believed to be of 12m-28m in diameter.

The largest asteroid named ‘163348 (2002 NN4)’ which is estimated to be between 250m and 570m in diameter would fly by Earth on June 6. This huge asteroid would fly at a distance of 50.9 lakh km from Earth.

According to the Dailystar website, NASA has classed the asteroid as an ‘Aten asteroid’, which is a space rock following a very wide orbit around the Sun.

Despite 2002 NN4’s distance from Earth, NASA considers the space rock a ‘Near-Earth Object’ – it considers all asteroids NEOs if they approach Earth within 1.3 astronomical units.

A NEO is a term used by NASA to describe comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood.

NASA's Asteroid Watch Widget tracks asteroids and comets that will make relatively close approaches to Earth. The Widget displays the date of closest approach, approximate object diameter, relative size and distance from Earth for each encounter.

The Widget displays the next five Earth approaches to within 7.5 million kilometers or 19.5 times the distance to the moon; an object larger than about 150 meters that can approach the Earth to within this distance is termed a 'potentially hazardous object'A.