NASA reveals that today, asteroid 2024 BM will come extremely close to Earth, providing details on its size, speed, and more.

According to the information released by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), an asteroid named Asteroid 2024 BM is projected to come close to Earth today, January 22, at a distance of about 3 million kilometers. Currently, the asteroid is moving towards Earth at a speed of 21511 kilometers per hour, which is comparable to Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). To determine if the asteroid poses any threat, further details should be examined.

Asteroid 2024 BM

This space rock belongs to the Apollo group of Near-Earth Asteroids, which are space rocks that pass through the Earth and whose semi-major axes are larger than the Earth’s axis. These asteroids are named after the huge 1862 Apollo asteroid discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.

According to NASA, this is not the first time that Asteroid 2024 BM has come close to Earth. It passed the planet for the first time on December 5, 1900 at a distance of about 23 million kilometers. After today, it will pass the planet at a distance of 9.7 million kilometers on May 2, 2039.

How big is it?

According to NASA, the near-Earth asteroid is not expected to collide and is not large enough to be classified as a potentially hazardous object. These are celestial bodies more than about 490 meters long, which can approach the Earth within a radius of 7.5 million kilometers. It’s about 150 feet wide, so it’s the size of an airplane. At 45 feet wide, Asteroid 2024 BM is almost the size of a house, NASA has revealed.

How do asteroids hit the planet?

Asteroids are found in the main asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. If these space rocks have their own orbits, how do they affect Earth? NASA says this could happen due to interaction with the large planet’s gravitational field. This causes them to crash towards the planet causing a potential impact scenario.

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