Gerrard Kaonga
Earth is set to encounter a rare phenomenon as two 'potentially hazardous' asteroids come nervously close to the planet.
One of the two asteroids is expected to fly by on June 27 with the second passing by Saturday June 29.
Unfortunately, if you were hoping to look up at the sky and see the giant space rocks flying in the sky, you are likely to be disappointed as they can’t be viewed with the naked eye.
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However, if you use a telescope or binoculars you may be able to spot them.
The European Space Agency has reiterated that despite the asteroids flying by close today, there is a zero percent chance of impact with Earth. So, you can rest easy without that fear lingering over your head.
The larger of the two asteroids is quite a behemoth and will be one of the biggest asteroids to recently pass the planet. The space rock, named Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21, has an estimated diameter of roughly 1.4 miles and most terrifyingly it is larger than 99 percent of all known near-Earth objects.
It is just as well that the people who watch the skies for a living are confident that the space rock wont strike the planet because due to its size it is known as a ‘planet killer’.
These are asteroids that are at least 1.2 miles wide and if it did strike it would cause unimaginable damage on a continental scale, possibly changing the climate for several years.
For context, the asteroid that struck the planet and wiped out a large portion of dinosaurs was about 6.5 miles across and triggered global warming for an estimated 100,000 years.
But it looks like we are going to be escaping a similar fate this time around as the asteroid is at a safe distance of more than four million miles away.
The second asteroid set to make a pass by was only recently discovered.
Asteroid 2024 MK was first discovered earlier this month, just 13 days before it will pass by Earth at remarkably close range, according to the European Space Agency.
This space rock pales in comparison when it comes to size as it has an estimated diameter between 390 and 885 feet which is about the length one to two and a half football fields.
This asteroid is expected to be exceedingly bright and will come within 184,000 miles of Earth.