NASA reveals details of potentially hazardous asteroid passing Earth today

NASA has announced that a massive asteroid, classified as a ‘Potentially Hazardous Object’, will pass close to Earth today, January 8. The asteroid was detected by NASA’s Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), which is in charge of monitoring Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) like asteroids and comets. Find out more about this upcoming close approach and learn about NASA’s advanced technology used for observing and monitoring NEOs.

Asteroid 2002 AY1: Speed, size and more

NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) has named the asteroid Asteroid 2002 AY1. It will come close to Earth today, January 8. This Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) is expected to make its closest approach to the planet at about 62421 kilometers per hour. During its closest approach, it will pass the planet at a distance of about 5.8 million kilometers. It is important to note that although it has been called a near-Earth asteroid as well as a potentially hazardous asteroid due to its close proximity, it is not expected to impact the planet.

It belongs to the group of Aten asteroids, which are Earth-crossing Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) with semi-major axes smaller than Earth’s. They are named after the asteroid 2062 Ate, and the first of their kind was discovered by American astronomer Eleanor Helin at the Palomar Observatory on January 7, 1976.

How big is the asteroid?

According to NASA, Asteroid 2002 AY1 is about 720 feet across, making it almost the size of a stadium! While this approach distance for this asteroid may seem considerable, it is relatively small by astronomical measurements given the asteroid’s massive size.

According to NASA, this is not the first time that Asteroid 2002 AY1 has come close to Earth. It passed the planet for the first time on January 2, 1901 at a distance of 32 million kilometers. After today, it will come close to Earth again on December 25, 2025, at a distance of 50 million kilometers.

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