Two asteroids are set to glide past Earth on September 24, 2024. Among them, one stands out due to its massive size of 120 feet.

Asteroid 2024 RO11: This asteroid is approximately 120 feet in diameter, about the size of a small airplane. NASA estimates that the closest it will come to Earth during its flyby will be around 4,580,000 miles.

Asteroid 2020 GE: The second asteroid, with a smaller diameter of 26 feet, is expected to pass by Earth at a distance of approximately 410,000 miles, just beyond the distance between Earth and the Moon.

According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, these asteroids will safely glide by our planet.

What Are Asteroids and How Are They Formed?

Asteroids are remnants from the early solar system, formed around 4.6 billion years ago. As planets were taking shape, dust and gas particles in the solar nebula collided and clumped together to create planetesimals. While some of these planetesimals merged to form planets, others remained small and turned into asteroids. Most asteroids are located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, where Jupiter's gravitational pull prevented them from forming a planet.

These rocky bodies offer important insights into the formation and evolution of the solar system.

Historic Asteroid Collisions on Earth

Asteroids have collided with Earth throughout its geological history, causing significant impacts. One of the most famous events is the Chicxulub impact that occurred around 66 million years ago, which led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. This impact, caused by an asteroid roughly 10 km in size, resulted in massive wildfires, tsunamis, and a "nuclear winter" as particles spread through the atmosphere. Nearly 75% of Earth's species perished due to this event.

Smaller impacts have also occurred, such as the Tunguska event of 1908, which flattened over 2,000 square kilometers of Siberian forest. However, large, Earth-altering impacts are relatively rare in our planet’s history.

NASA continues to monitor asteroid flybys to assess any potential risks and to deepen our understanding of these celestial remnants.