According to NASA en Español, this week, June 24-30, 2024, two large asteroids will pass close to Earth.
None of them pose a risk to our planet, but one of them was discovered only a week ago, which highlights the need to improve our ability to detect potentially dangerous objects in our cosmic neighborhood.
Asteroid 2024 MK: less than two weeks between discovery and passage
Asteroid 2024 MK measures between 120 and 260 meters and was discovered on June 16, 2024. The asteroid will pass close to Earth on June 29. 2024 MK is a large near-Earth object and will pass within 290,000 km of the Earth’s surface, or approximately 75% of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
Asteroid 2024 MK is unlikely to hit Earth. However, an asteroid of this size would cause considerable damage if it did so. Its discovery a week before it passed near our planet underlines the need to improve our ability to detect and monitor near-Earth objects (NEOs) potentially dangerous.
Due to its size and proximity, 2024 MK will be observable in dark, clear skies on June 29 using a small telescope or good binoculars for amateur astronomers in certain parts of the world.
Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21: larger than 99% of near-Earth asteroids
Asteroid (415029) 2011 UL21 is the largest visitor of the week. With a diameter of 2,310 meters, this asteroid is larger than 99% of known near-Earth objects. However, it won’t come that close to Earth. At its closest point, on June 27, it will still be more than 17 times the distance from the Moon.
The orbit of this asteroid around the Sun is very inclined, which is unusual for an object of this size. Most large objects in the solar system, including planets and asteroids, orbit the Sun in or near the equatorial plane.
This could be the result of gravitational interactions with a large planet like Jupiter. Jupiter can deflect asteroids which were previously safe to Earth, so it is important to understand this process.
(415029) 2011 UL21 is in “11:34 resonance” with Earth. It completes 11 revolutions around the Sun in approximately the same time as the Earth completes 34 revolutions (i.e. 34 years).
This results in a pleasing repeating pattern when observing the asteroid’s position relative to Earth over a 34-year period, while the Earth remains still.
