220-foot asteroid on way to Earth, says NASA; gigantic rock speeding at a fiery 62296 kmph

A potentially hazardous, gigantic 220-foot asteroid named 2022 WP11 is all set to make its closest approach to Earth, NASA warned.

A 220-foot asteroid is to come extremely close to Earth tomorrow. NASA says it is hazardous for Earth. (WikiMedia Commons)

Do you know that asteroids are also called planetoids? While some asteroids may be small at just a few feet, others are as big as hundreds of kilometres. These asteroids revolving around the sun are too small to be called planets hence, these are known as planetoids or minor planets. However, despite this, these asteroids can be dangerous to Earth, just like the Chicxulub asteroid, which ended the era of dinosaurs. It was said to be a 100 million-megaton blast that devastated the Gulf of Mexico region. Hence, to detect the terror of these asteroids in advance, NASA and its tech keep constant track of all upcoming ones that come too close for comfort.

NASA has warned that a gigantic 220-foot wide asteroid will pass by the Earth tomorrow, December 9. According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this Near-Earth object has been named Asteroid 2022 WP11 which is estimated to be up to 220-foot (67 meters) in diameter. According to the report, it will make its closest approach to Earth at just 2.82 million miles and it will be traveling at a fiery speed of 62296 km per hour (or 17.30 km per second.) Does it pose any threat to the Earth? Here's what NASA revealed about this hazardous asteroid.

Asteroid 2022 WP11 danger

According to NASA, an asteroid that approaches the Earth within 4.6 million miles (7.5 million kilometers) and has a size larger than about 150 meters, is termed a potentially hazardous asteroid. Hence, Asteroid 2022 WP11 with a 220-foot diameter is not a potential threat to the Earth due to its size, but its close approach can pose potential danger. A 220-foot asteroid can do great damage on Earth if it were to collide. And yes, asteroids do collide with Earth as did the one recently discovered asteroid that was burned over the sky of Ontario, Canada. It may have rainde down some meteorites there.

Apart from this, there is another one, asteroid 2022 XJ, which measures just 51-foot in size that will make an uncomfortably close approach of 1.63 million miles to Earth tomorrow.