Not one, not two, but three large asteroids are paying us a holiday visit and are due to their relatively near-Earth velocity. on christmas day. So according to the distances in the universe, so there is no reason to panic.
The three asteroids are designated 2022 YL1, 2013 YA14, and 2022 TE14 and are estimated to measure between 124 and 278 feet, 167 to 360 feet, and 312 to 689 feet, respectively.
So, the 2022 YL1 is about the same size as the wingspan of a Boeing 777, while the 2013 YA14 is similar to the scale of an American football field, while the 2022 TE14 will be about the same size as a 50-story building. We’ll call them A, B, and C asteroids, respectively.

iStock/Getty Images Plus
All three asteroids orbit the sun and occasionally pass near Earth. Most of the asteroids in the solar system are located in the asteroid belt orbiting the Sun. Between Mars and JupiterIt is thought to be around 1.1 million.
“Asteroids are ‘parts of a planet’ orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter in the main asteroid belt. However, because they are relatively small, asteroids can be disturbed quite easily, so they can develop orbits that intersect those of the planets,” said Jay, director of the UK’s Spaceguard Center observatory. Tate, it’s been said before news week.
Each of the asteroids will pass by the Earth at a distance of 0.01959, 0.00691 and 0.02872 astronomical units. NASA NEO Earth Close Approaches data. An astronomical unit equivalent to the distance between Earth and the sun (93 million miles), so asteroid A will pass approximately 1,820,000 miles from Earth, asteroid B 642,000 miles and asteroid C 2,670,000 miles away.
While this may seem very distant in terms of the solar system, the asteroids are getting pretty close to Earth: The Moon is only 238,900 miles away, while our nearest neighboring planet, Venus, is now 153.6 million miles away.
Many asteroids that pass near Earth are classified as near-Earth objects and are named for how close they are and how large they are. There are about 30,000 NEOs we know of so far, and some of them are in another category called “potentially dangerous” objects. These are defined as approaching 7.6 million miles from Earth’s orbit and are also measure greater than 460 feet in diameter.
Therefore, only asteroid C falls into the potentially dangerous category.
“The potentially dangerous designation means that the asteroid’s orbit could change into an orbit that has a chance to impact Earth for centuries and millennia. We’re not evaluating these long-term, centuries-long impact possibilities,” said NASA administrator Paul Chodas. Near Earth Object Studies Center, it’s been said before news week.
Despite the proximity of these Christmas asteroids to Earth, the odds of them or any of the thousands of other asteroids in the solar system hitting our planet are very slim.
“No known asteroid poses a significant risk of hitting Earth in the next 100 years,” says NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
Do you have a clue about a science story? news week should it be coated? Have a question about asteroids? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.