In the next couple of days, two giant asteroids are set to fly past Earth. NASA says they will be three times the Great Pyramid of Giza’s size to put them into context.
Newsweek reports that the first asteroid, called 2020PP, will be closest to Earth on January 23 at 6:26 am ET, according to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS.) At its closest point, the giant rock will be within 4.3 million miles of Earth and traveling at a speed of 18,700 miles per hour.
The second asteroid, named 468727 (2010 JE87,) will approach Earth just a couple of days later, on January 25 at 1:17 pm. The second asteroid will fly slightly closer to our planet, at around 3.7 miles, and will be traveling at a higher rate of speed — 33,400 miles per hour.
Both asteroids are classed as near-Earth objects (NEOs) because their paths around the sun take them within 30 million miles of Earth’s orbit.
It’s not uncommon for the asteroids to sail past the Earth during their trip around the sun. For example, 2020PP orbits the sun approximately every 381 days. It will soar past Earth once more on August 10, 2021.
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