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This illustration shows a near-Earth asteroid like asteroid 2020 SW traveling through space. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This illustration shows a near-Earth asteroid like asteroid 2020 SW traveling through space. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This illustration shows a near-Earth asteroid like asteroid 2020 SW traveling through space. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
This illustration shows a near-Earth asteroid like asteroid 2020 SW traveling through space. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
A school bus-sized asteroid will pass Earth today on its journey through space, because 2020 is throwing us some closer calls now.
Named 2020 SW, the asteroid will zoom by about 13,000 miles above Earth’s surface. According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, scientists discovered 2020 SW on September 18 but ruled out any chance of it deciding to make a dent in our planet.
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“There are a large number of tiny asteroids like this one, and several of them approach our planet as close as this several times every year,” said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “In fact, asteroids of this size impact our atmosphere at an average rate of about once every year or two.”
And even if it did take a detour to Earth, 2020 SW would probably break up in the atmosphere.
Take a deep breath. Everything’s fine, y’all.