Astonishing asteroid bombardment! NASA says 4 asteroids hurtling towards Earth today

According to NASA, 4 more asteroids are rushing towards Earth today. This takes the total asteroid passes this week to an astonishing 10- a shockingly high number! Should you worry?

NASA: 4 giant asteroids to zoom past the Earth today. This week has been filled with asteroids passing close to the Earth, with today taking the number to 10. (Pixabay)

It has been an astonishing week! It has been filled with asteroid sightings and asteroids hurtling very close to Earth. So far, we already have seen 6 asteroids approaching Earth and shockingly, one of them actually crashed into our planet! Now, NASA reveals that 4 more asteroids will be flying past Earth today, March 17. This is an extremely high number of near Earth objects or NEOs observed in a week. While the scientific community is excited to observe so many asteroids up close and collect data on its structure and path, it also causes concern on whether there is a reason behind these asteroid bombardment. So, should you be worried?

After a considerably peaceful February, March has come with a host of asteroids gunning for Earth. And while most make a safe passage, we have already witnessed 2 asteroid hits to Earth this year. In January, a meteor exploded in the sky near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. And this week, another asteroid called 2022 EB5 was pulled in by the Earth's gravitational pull and crashed near the coast of Iceland. Although both of these incidents took place without any damage to life, the next big asteroid may change it all.

NASA: 4 large asteroids headed towards Earth

The 4 asteroids making their way toward our home planet have been named 2022 EL6, 2022 EM6, 2022 EU6 and 2019 PH1. All four of these asteroids are as large as an airplane with the sizes being 34m, 34m, 30m and 37m respectively. So, should you be worried? Well, all of them are likely to make a safe passage from a distance between 2,060,000 kms and 4,720,000. But even as the distances seem too large, do remember that in astronomical quantities, they are very small. That's why NASA and its Planetary Defense Coordination Organization (PDCO) is constantly keeping a watch on these NEOs to ensure we do not get caught off guard in case an asteroid deviates towards our planet.

The high volume of asteroid passage is worrying, but according to NASA, this is business as usual. In fact, according to NASA the first worrying asteroid for us will not approach till 2029 when 99942 Apophis pays us a visit. However, current calculations have proved that even that asteroid does not pose a threat of strike to Earth.

Having said that, our tech is not perfect and often, astronomers can be blind-sided by asteroids which appear from the side of the Sun. By the time they do become aware, there is very little warning time left for planet Earth to take any kind of action.