The four space rocks have been classified by NASA’s tracking systems as NEOs or Near-Earth Objects.
NEOs are all comets and asteroids that orbit the Sun from a distance of no more than 1.3 astronomical units.
The space rocks frequently visit Earth’s corner of space and sometimes cross paths with our home planet to disastrous effect.
As of January 7, 2020, the European Space Agency (ESA) counts 21, 655 NEO asteroids and 109 NEO comets.
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NASA says an asteroid the size of The Great Pyramid of Giza will skim past Earth tonight - Mirror
The asteroid, dubbed 2020 AO1, is estimated to be around 49 to 100 metres in diameter. At the higher end of that estimate, that suggests the space rock could be roughly the same size as The Great Pyramid of Giza!
According to NASA's estimates, 2020 AO1 will skim past Earth at around 19:18 GMT, at which point it will be travelling at a staggering speed of almost 40,000mph.
2020 AO1 isn't the only asteroid passing our planet today - a second space rock is set to make a close approach at around 22:37 GMT.
Scientists make space history with first intervenusian asteroid ever found - CNET
The Virtual Telescope Project caught sight of the first-known intervenusian asteroid, 2020 AV2. The arrow points to the asteroid.
The Virtual Telescope Project's image of asteroid 2020 AV2 isn't much of a looker, but the small dot pointed out by an arrow is a big new discovery. It's the first known intervenusian asteroid, a space rock that travels around the sun entirely within the orbit of Venus.
This makes 2020 AV2 the first Vatira-class asteroid on the books. It's hard enough to spot asteroids that orbit between the Earth and the sun, and even tougher to find ones inside the orbit of Venus, the second closest planet to our star.
Asteroid alert: NASA-tracked asteroid missed Earth at speeds of 27,000MPH | Science | News |
NASA also classifies NEOs as all comets and asteroids on orbits that can bring them incredibly close to Earth.
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The space agency said: “Some asteroids and comets follow orbital paths that take them much closer to the Sun and therefore Earth – than usual.
“If a comet or asteroids approach brings it to within 1.3 astronomical units of the Sun, we call it a near-Earth object.”
Asteroid AV1 appears to be a smaller representative of the NEO family but the rock is moving at breakneck speeds.
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NASA Warns Of 3 Asteroids With Earth-Intersecting Orbits Approaching Tomorrow
NASA's asteroid tracking system is currently monitoring three near-Earth objects that are expected to approach the planet tomorrow. According to the agency's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the approaching asteroids have natural orbits that intersect the planet's path.
The first asteroid that will fly past Earth tomorrow has been identified by CNEOS as 2020 AX2 . As indicated in the agency's database, this asteroid is currently flying across space and towards Earth at an average speed of over 15,000 miles per hour. It has an estimated diameter of about 161 feet.
Asteroid ALERT: NASA reveals MAJOR space rock set to skim Earth this weekend | Science | News |
For reference, the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest jet ever built, could not even reach New York from London in an hour.
At 49ft (15m) wide, the asteroid is almost as long as a double decker bus, and three times as tall.
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One AU (149,598,000 km) is the distance between the Earth and the Sun, so AB2 will be 1,645,576 kilometres from Earth.
While this may seem like a sizeable distance, it is close enough for NASA to sit up and take notice.
Asteroid alert: NASA tracks four asteroids racing towards Earth in next 48 hours | Science | News
NASA’s asteroid tracking systems have dubbed all four rocky bodies NEOs or Near-Earth Objects.
According to NASA, NEOs are all comets and asteroids that orbit the Sun within the confines of the inner solar system.
NEOs can come dangerously close to Earth and on rare instances can strike the planet with devastating force.
Some asteroids are of particular interest to NASA because of their “potentially hazardous” designation.
Happening on Twitter
NASA on alert about space rock dashing by Earth on Sunday @NASA https://t.co/uc3aXkL4Ff SputnikInt Sun Jan 12 06:20:00 +0000 2020
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