A mammoth space rock that measures approximately 620 meters will whiz past the Earth on the boxing day, December 26. This asteroid named '310442 (2000 CH59)' is apparently traveling across space at a neck-breaking speed of 27.470 miles per hour. It should be noted that the meteor that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February 2013, injuring 1,500 people and damaging over 7,000 buildings, was about 20 meters wide. If an asteroid with such a huge size like 310442 (2000 CH59) hits the earth, it will cause massive devastation on a global scale.
However, space agencies say that the possibility of a collision can be ruled out completely. At its closes, this asteroid will be almost 4.5 million miles (7.2 million km) away from Earth, and it is expected to zip past earth safely.
Experts have classified 310442 (2000 CH59) as an Aten class asteroid. A Near Earth Object (NEO) whose orbit crosses Earth’s orbit but spends most of its time inside Earth orbit.
By definition, Atens are Earth-crossing asteroids and many of them are classified as potentially hazardous asteroids. 99942 Apophis is also an Aten class asteroid. The closest known approach of Apophis comes on April 13, 2029 when the asteroid comes to within a distance of around 31,000 kilometres from Earth's surface.
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids and comets that orbit the Sun, but their orbits bring them into Earth's neighborhood - within 30 million miles of Earth's orbit.
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