Can you feel that gust of wind? Was it a summer breeze? Or maybe it’s the two giant building-sized asteroids whizzing past Earth this weekend? (It can’t, but just imagine.)
The two space objects have been documented by NASA and will fly by – and pass safely! — our planet on July 29 and July 30, according to estimates of the trajectory of the space organization.
The first asteroid, designated 2016 CZ31, flew past our night sky on the evening of July 29 and was measured to be 400 feet across. It was traveling at a speed of 34,560 miles per hour.
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The second asteroid, an even larger space rock called 2013 CU83, will then approach on the evening of July 30 — traveling at a much gentler speed of 13,153 mph. Both asteroids pass above us more than a million miles above us, which is many times the distance between the Earth and the Moon and within the safety measurements for these celestial bodies.
And these objects routinely pass around our planet, so do not fear the end of the Earth by a flying space object just yet. Earlier this year, a mile-wide asteroid passed Earth 2.5 million miles overhead, closely observed by NASA for everyone’s scientific enjoyment and safety. Predictions indicate that the next orbit of these particular asteroids will occur in January 2028.
You can also follow NASA’s Asteroid Watch, which tracks the path of near-Earth objects (NEOs) as part of the agency’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
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