HomeAstronomyHouse-sized asteroid zooms by Earth in close flyby

House-sized asteroid zooms by Earth in close flyby

A newly-discovered asteroid about the size of a house is passing close by Earth on Monday (March 28) but is no cause for alarm. 

The asteroid, called 2022 FB2, is about 49 feet (15 meters) across and will approach within 93,400 miles (150,000 kilometers) when it whizzes by our planet, according to a NASA chart of asteroid flybys. For comparison, the average distance between the Earth and moon is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers).

Astronomers first detected 2022 FB2 on Saturday (March 26), according to a NASA database. 

This NASA graphic shows the path of the asteroid 2022 FB2 as it flew within 93,000 miles of Earth in a flyby on March 28, 2022. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Monday’s flyby follows on the heels of another asteroid, called 2022 FD1, that passed within just 5,400 miles (8,700 kilometers) of Earth on Thursday (March 24). That asteroid was discovered by astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky, who announced the find on Twitter. Asteroid 2022 FD1 is a tiny space rock, with the largest estimates pegging it at about 12.1 feet (3.7 meters), according to a database maintained by NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. 

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