The Earth has been hit by asteroids of various shapes and sizes, but recently, a huge asteroid that is thought to be larger than the London Eye is set to enter Earth's orbit this week.
Asteroid 2013 WV44 is anticipated to slam into the Earth's orbit around 9am on June 28. Its estimated speed is 11.81km/s, or 26,000mph, which is about half that of the Vredefort, the largest asteroid to strike the planet's surface, which travelled at a speed of 45,000 to 56000mph.
When the asteroid is closest to Earth on its journey through space, it will be one million miles away and is estimated to be about 160 metres wide. While that may seem far, to the experts at NASA, it is close enough to be considered a "Close Approach."
The "Near Earth Object (NEO)" is 30 metres wider than the London Eye, but given how far away it will be from the Earth, it is extremely unlikely to cause any disruption.
Although nearly all NEOs require specialised equipment to be seen from Earth, the location from which the asteroid can be seen is currently unknown.
"Asteroids don’t emit their own visible light, so we primarily observe them via the sunlight that they reflect," Dr Susanna Kohler from the American Astronomical Society previously said of asteroids.
According to the Daily Star, over 31,000 NEOs have been discovered to date, and 2013 WV44 is just one of them. Many more are thought to be lurking in the depths of space, waiting to be found.
Any asteroid that passes within 30 million miles of Earth's orbit is categorised as a NEO, and if it comes within 4.6 million miles of Earth's orbit and has a diameter larger than 460 feet, Nasa classifies it as a "potentially hazardous object."
There are currently about 2,300 asteroids on the "potentially hazardous" list. While none of them pose an immediate threat to Earth, there is always a chance that their orbits could change, sending them hurtling towards it.
Asteroids are tiny space rocks that remained after the solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago. They are sometimes referred to as "cosmic leftovers."
Small objects began slamming into one another and breaking up during Jupiter's formation.
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