Beware! Shocking 260-foot asteroid charging towards Earth at fearsome speed

A 260-foot monstrous asteroid is bolting towards Earth and could make a close approach soon. Here's what NASA said.

Asteroid 2022 YZ2 is a building-sized asteroid which is set to pass Earth closely. (NASA)

Although asteroids often make close trips to Earth, these objects pass the planet at just enough distance to not cause any harm. Astonishingly, astronomers have spotted three near-Earth asteroids (NEA) hiding in the glare of the Sun. One of the asteroids is the largest object that is potentially hazardous to Earth to be discovered in the last eight years. This is a notoriously challenging region for observations because asteroid hunters have to contend with the glare of the Sun. NASA has also warned that one potentially hazardous asteroid is on its way towards Earth and it will pass by extremely closely soon!

Asteroid 2022 YZ2

NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office has warned that the asteroid, named Asteroid 2022 YZ2, will make its closest approach to Earth just a couple of days from now on January 12, at a distance of 6.4 million kilometers. What's concerning about this asteroid is its monstrous size, with a width of nearly 260 feet, which is the same size as a whole building!

The asteroid is already travelling towards Earth, at a blistering speed of 23714 kilometers per hour. According to NASA, it belongs to the main Apollo group of asteroids, which are a group of Near-Earth asteroids named after the humongous 1862 Apollo asteroid, discovered by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth in the 1930s.

Asteroid strike in Canada

In the midst of all the close asteroid flybys, NASA has revealed that an asteroid struck the Earth in November last year! NASA keeps a watch on these asteroids by studying data collected by various space and ground-based telescopes and observatories such as the Pan-STARRS, the Catalina Sky Survey and the NEOWISE telescope. However, this asteroid was seemingly missed by all of them and was discovered just hours before impact!

NASA has revealed that a tiny asteroid lit up the sky as it flew over Southern Ontario, Canada on Saturday, November 19. What's shocking is that this 3-foot asteroid was detected just 3.5 hours before impact! According to NASA, the asteroid is likely to have burned up upon entering the planet's atmosphere and scattered small meteorites over the southern coastline of Lake Ontario.