Three asteroids are set to sail past the Earth around Thanksgiving, ahead of a lunar eclipse early next week.On November 25, a space rock dubbed 2020 VK6 will make its closest approach to Earth at 4:05 p.m., coming within 3.1 million miles of Earth, according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Studies (CNEOS).This is equivalent to around 13 times the average distance between the Earth and the moon, CNEOS data shows. Astronomers estimate that the asteroid, which is travelling at around 25,000 miles per hour, measures up to 157 feet in diameter.Another two asteroids will make their closest approach to the Earth late on November 25 and on Thanksgiving day itself.Known as 2018 RQ4 and 2020 VO2, both of these space rocks are similar in size—up to 80-90 feet in width.Newsweek subscription offers >The latter will pass the Earth at a similar distance to 2020 VK6. But 2018 RQ4 could come as close as about 265,000 miles—only slightly greater than the average distance between our planet and the moon.This is the asteroid’s “minimum possible close-approach distance,” however, with the expected distance calculated to be 1.9 million miles.These asteroids will fly past the Earth just a few days ahead of another… Read full this story
- NEOWISE hurtles past Earth: Everything you need to know about the comet
- Meteors more massive than the dinosaur-killing asteroid struck Earth 800 million years ago
- Return of skull-shaped asteroid: Massive space rock will pass Earth again next year after its 'close' Halloween flyby of 2015
- US reveals plan for nuclear power plant on the MOON that could power lunar Space Force base
- Nasa to launch ‘alien hunter’ robot to Mars next week – days after China launched THREE of its own
- The curtain is about to come down on Comet NEOWISE
- The Story of the Interstellar Space Rock Isn’t Over Yet
- The Latest: New Zealand reports 2 new coronavirus cases
- A Plague Is an Apocalypse. But It Can Bring a New World.
- Blast off for UAE's mission to Mars as Emirates become first Arab nation to launch an interplanetary expedition
Three Thanksgiving Asteroids to Zoom Past Earth This Week, Ahead of Lunar Eclipse have 332 words, post on www.newsweek.com at November 24, 2020. This is cached page on X-Buy. If you want remove this page, please contact us.