A huge asteroid and three small NEOs will shoot past Earth in early Jan, NASA warns
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Year 2020’s final asteroid, 2020 YB4, measuring just 36 metres in diameter or roughly half the wingspan of a 747,
passed by the Earth shortly after 6 am UTC at a distance of 6.1 million kilometres.
NASA has warned that a monstrous 220-meter asteroid is headed Earth’s way early in the new year.
Year 2020’s final asteroid, 2020 YB4, measuring just 36 metres in diameter or roughly half the wingspan of a 747, passed by the Earth shortly after 6 am UTC at a distance of 6.1 million kilometres.
Keeping up with the trend, in the first days of January, three additional, small Near Earth Objects (NEOs) will grace the Earth with their presence.
The 15-metre asteroid 2019 YB4 will fly by at a safe distance of 6.4 million kilometres. It will be followed up by two more chunks of cosmic debris in the form of the 15-meter 2020 YA1 and the 21-meter 2020 YP4, which will pass by at
1.5 and 2.1 million kilometers respectively, the next day.
A bigger asteroid will shoot past Earth on January 3, as the relatively mountainous 2003 AF23, measuring an impressive 220m in diameter or about as wide as the Golden Gate Bridge is tall, at 6.9 million kilometers.