Ten Asteroids Will Be Making A Close Approach To Earth In January. Check Out The List & Dates

A total of 10 asteroids will be making a close to approach to Earth in the month of January. The largest of these is around 2.5 times the size of the Empire State Building and is potentially hazardous

Representational image (Source: Getty)

New Delhi: A massive asteroid named 7482 (1994 PC1) will fly close to Earth on January 18, according to NASA. The asteroid is around 2.5 times the size of the Empire State Building in New York, US, and is almost the size of the Golden Gate Bridge in California, US, according to a report by earthsky.org.

A total of 10 asteroids will be making a close to approach to Earth in the month of January on the following dates:

January 5: Asteroids 2021 YX and 2021 YQ will make a close approach to Earth. According to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, the distance of Asteroid 2021 YQ's closest Earth approach will be 2.14 million kilometres. The asteroid has a diameter of 200 feet or 61 metres, and is airplane-sized. 

Asteroid 2021 YX is also airplane-sized, with a diameter of 100 feet or 30 metres. It will make its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 3.85 million kilometres.

January 6: Asteroid 2014 YE15, which is a bus-sized Earth, will make its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 7.4 million kilometres. It has a diameter of 24 feet or seven metres.

January 7: Asteroid 2020 AP1 will pass close to Earth at distance of 1.74 million kilometres. It has a diameter of 13 feet or four metres, and is a car-sized asteroid.

January 11: Asteroid 2013 YD48 will make a close approach to Earth at distance of 5.6 million kilometres. 

This is one of the biggest asteroids to make a close approach to Earth. With a diameter of 340 feet or 104 metres, it is a building-sized asteroid.

January 18: Two asteroids will pass close to Earth on January 18. Apart from asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1), asteroid 2021 BA will make a close approach to our planet on the same date, at a nominal distance of around 3.76 million kilometres. 

January 20: Asteroid 2022 AB will fly close to Earth on this date.

January 21: Asteroid 2018 PN22 will pass by Earth on this date.

January 24: Asteroid 2017 XC62 will make a close approach to Earth on this date.
Of all these asteroids, 7482 (1994 PC1) is the biggest, with a diameter of 1.052 kilometres. Though NASA has classified it as a potentially hazardous asteroid, it will safely pass Earth, the EarthSky report said.