Asteroid heading dangerously close to Earth; NASA calls it 'potentially hazardous'

Not one, there are as many as 3 asteroids that are heading towards Earth and they are expected to come dangerously close this month. One asteroid will be so close that it has been classified as ‘potentially hazardous’ by NASA linked Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

Before we get into the details of these asteroids, let’s first understand what asteroids really are. As NASA explains it, asteroids, also called minor planets, are rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets and hence they are not classified as planets.

NASA says that there are a lot of asteroids in our solar system but most of them are located in the main asteroid belt, which is a region between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. But that’s not the only region where asteroids are found. Some asteroids go in front of and behind Jupiter. These are called Trojan asteroids. There is another variety of asteroids that come close to Earth. These asteroids are called Near Earth Objects or NEOs. NASA keeps a close watch on NEOs as sometimes these asteroids can come dangerously close to the Earth.

Now, space agencies have detailed three asteroids that will fly by dangerously close to the Earth in the month of September 2021. One of these asteroids is called 2010 RJ53 and it will reach its closest approach to Earth on September 9 at which point at a distance of 366,000 kilometres from the Earth. News 18 reports that this asteroid is 774 metres in diameter and it is just 54 metres smaller than the Burj Khalifa.

The second asteroid is called 2021 PT. It will reach its closest approach to Earth on September 11 at which point it will be at a distance of 4.9 million kilometres from the Earth. This asteroid is 137 metres in size.

The third asteroid that will zoom past the Earth this month is called 2021 NY1. This asteroid is 127 to 284 metres in diameter, which is roughly the size of a school bus. It will fly by Earth on September 22 at a distance of 1.5 million kilometres. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has classified 2021 NY1 as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its predicted close pass with the Earth.