A "Christmas asteroid" the size of a 10-story building will fly past the Earth

On Christmas Eve, Christians will be looking for a bright star in the sky, but astronomers will be looking for a space rock. On December 24, a huge "Christmas asteroid," designated as 2024 XN1, will fly past the Earth at a speed of 23726 kilometers per hour.

The space boulder is the size of a ten-story building. According to NASA's Asteroid Watch dashboard, asteroid 2024 XN1 should fly safely at a distance of 7.21 million kilometers from our planet, writes DailyMail.

NASA and the European Space Agency's (ESA) planetary protection systems only noticed the approach of the "Christmas asteroid" on December 12. After calculating the orbit, the agency called it "close," which means that it will pass within 7.5 million kilometers of the Earth.

However, experts emphasize that this space "alien" will not spoil the pre-holiday mood for earthlings. "It will be very far away, about 18 times farther from the Earth than the Moon. Therefore, the asteroid will not come close enough to hit the Earth," reassured Jess Lee, a scientist at the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

The researchers estimate that the stone is approximately 29 to 70 meters in diameter. So if 2024 XN1 crashed into the planet, it would hit with the force equivalent to 12 million tons of TNT and level an area of 2,000 square kilometers, experts say.

Next year, the asteroid 2024 XN1 will approach Earth again in January 2032. However, this meeting will be closer – 4.7 million kilometers. But the closest flyby of the "Christmas asteroid" will take place in December 2106. Then its distance to the Earth will be 3.4 million kilometers.

However, these are not the only "gifts" from the Universe during these holidays. According to the researchers, on December 23, a small space rock called 2013 YB has a small chance of crashing into the Earth. However, with a diameter of less than 3 meters, this asteroid is likely to burn up in the atmosphere, creating nothing more dangerous than a particularly bright fireball, experts say.

A truly large 400-meter asteroid will fly past the Earth at a speed of 79,920 km/h on January 5, 2025. However, astronomers say there is no need to worry this time either. After all, its passage near our planet will be safe – 3.68 million kilometers from the Earth.

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