Earth’s gravity will trap a 10 m (23.8 feet) wide asteroid 2024 PT2 on September 29, 2024, keeping it in orbit for 56.6 days before returning it to its regular journey around the Sun on November 25, 2024.
Chinese experts propose using nuclear weapons as a last resort to protect Earth from potential asteroid crashes. The team, led by Zhang He of the Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, stressed that current planetary defense technologies, including NASA’s DART mission, may be insufficient against larger asteroids.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2024 PY flew past Earth at a distance of 0.24 LD / 0.00063 AU (94 290 km / 58 594 miles) from the center of our planet at 21:36 UTC on August 4, 2024.
A small asteroid designated 2024 BX1 (temporary designation Sar2736) impacted Earth’s atmosphere near Berlin, Germany at 01:32 UTC on January 21, 2024. This asteroid was discovered about 3 hours before impact, making it the 8th asteroid to be discovered before impacting Earth.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 SL5 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.1 LD / 0.00035 AU (51 864 km / 32 227 miles) at 07:54 UTC on September 20, 2023. This is the 65th known asteroid to fly past Earth since the start of the year and the 12th so far this month.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 MW2 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.322 LD / 0.00083 AU (123 724 km / 76 878 miles) from the center of our planet at 07:16 UTC on June 23, 2023.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 LM1 will fly past Earth at a distance of 0.28 LD / 0.00074 AU (110 444 km / 68 627 miles) at 22:41 UTC on June 15, 2023.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 LD flew past Earth at a distance of 0.23 LD / 0.00059 AU (88 949 km / 55 271 miles) at 00:59 UTC on June 9, 2023. This is the 38th known asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and the 2nd so far this month.
A newly-detected asteroid designated 2023 GQ flew past Earth at a distance of 0.35 LD / 0.00089 AU (133 880 km / 83 189 miles) at 11:35 UTC on April 11, 2023. This is the 20th known asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year.
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2023 EN flew past Earth at a distance of 0.3 LD / 0.00091 (136 134 km / 84 589 miles) from the center of our planet at 11:25 UTC on March 9, 2023.
