Car-Sized Asteroid Made a Super Close Approach to Planet Earth in Near Miss Flyby

An asteroid just made a close approach toward the Earth. Fortunately, there was no collision despite the near-miss flyby.

Car-Sized Asteroid Made Near Miss Flyby Toward Earth

A small asteroid passed very close to Earth on Tuesday morning (May 14). The flyby happened just two days after astronomers discovered the space rock.

The asteroid named 2024 JN16 is less than 15 feet (4 meters) across, just about the size of a vehicle. Although it did not strike Earth, it passed by at only 11,500 miles (18,500 kilometers) from the planet's surface.

Amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov discovered 2024 JN16 two days before the flyby using the MARGO Observatory in Nauchnij, Crimea.

The space rock is a member of the Apollo asteroid group, which crosses Earth's orbit. Among these asteroids is the well-known Chelyabinsk meteor, which exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013, producing a boom greater than a nuclear explosion. The meteor was as big as a six-story building. Astronomers think that such objects live relatively brief lives in our solar system, potentially as little as 10 million years, because their orbits put them at risk of colliding with planets or other asteroids.

2024 JN16 passed close to Earth, staying well within the moon's orbit and only half as far away as the geostationary satellite belt, which circles the globe at a height of 22,236 miles (35,785 km).

Telescopes could see the asteroid since it came so close to Earth, appearing to shine at magnitude 13 at its brightest. However, it is now located in the constellation Serpens, more than 186,400 miles (300,000 kilometers) from Earth, and can only be viewed with long-exposure photography.

1000-Foot Wide Asteroid Apophis Making a Flyby in April 2029

An asteroid named after the Egyptian deity of chaos and devastation, Apophis, measuring 1,000 feet (305 meters) wide, will make a close flyby on April 13, 2029. It will pass within 30,000 miles (48,300 kilometers) of Earth.

Scientists intend to record the rare close flyby of a space asteroid of size. During the flyby, it will become so visible over our globe that it can be viewed with the unaided eye.

Apophis is nearly as wide as the height of the Empire State Building. Even if it does not strike Earth in the upcoming century, it will have a huge impact on science in 2029, and space agencies worldwide will be closely following its trajectory.

When Apophis was found in 2004, it was regarded as one of the most deadly asteroids that could impact Earth. That impact assessment was later changed, though, after astronomers tracked Apophis and improved the determination of its orbit.

Based on a precise orbit study and a radar surveillance campaign carried out in March 2021, scientists have concluded that an Apophis collision with Earth is unlikely for at least a century.

During a far-off flyby of Earth around March 5, 2021, astronomers got the opportunity to update the computation of Apophis' orbit around the Sun with extraordinary precision. Thanks to their radar data, they could safely rule out any collision risk in 2068 and long after.

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