Four asteroids approaching Earth today; all you need to know

Four asteroids of different sizes will come close to the Earth today, among which will be the asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1). NASA confirmed this development in a tweet. “Near-Earth asteroid 1994 PC1 (~1 km wide) is very well known and has been studied for decades by our Planetary Defense experts. Rest assured, 1994 PC1 will safely fly past our planet 1.2 million miles away next Tuesday January 18,” the space agency said.

This asteroid, dubbed as potentially hazardous by NASA, is a kilometre wide and 2.5 times the height of the Empire State Building in the US. At its closest, this asteroid will be 1.93 million km from the Earth, which is around 5.15 times the distance between the Moon and the Earth. This asteroid will shine at around magnitude 10, a target for observers using a 6-inch or larger backyard telescope.
 
But what is an asteroid? NASA defines an asteroid as “a relatively small, inactive body orbiting the Sun” while adding that these are composed of rocky, dusty and metallic materials. Asteroids that come close to Earth are called Near-Earth Objects.
 
The other asteroids that will approach the Earth today are -- Asteroid 2021 BA, Asteroid 2022 AW and Asteroid 2022 AA6. Asteroid 2021 BA is 17-37 meters wide and will approach the Earth at a speed of 32,724 kilometres per hour. This asteroid last came close to the Moon in 2021.
 
Asteroid 2022 AW will approach the Earth at a speed of 36,468 kilometres per hour and will come 35,98,002 kilometres close to the planet. Asteroid 2022 AW will come close to the planet in July 2029. Asteroid 2022 AA6, which is 10-22 meters wide, will approach the Earth at a speed of 16,200 kilometres per hour.

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