Airplane-size asteroid to fly past Earth today

On August 26, asteroid NEO 2022 QP4 flew past Earth from 13,96,682 kilometres. Another 100-foot-diameter asteroid NEO 2022 QQ4 whizzed past Earth on August 27 with its closest approach at 5.93 million kilometres from the Earth. According to NASA's CNEOS, the giant asteroid had a velocity of 7.23 km per second.

NASA defines asteroids as small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. They are much smaller than planets. Due to the gravitational pull of the planets, asteroids can sometimes alter their course and collide with them.

When the distance of an asteroid from the Earth is less than 1.3 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun, it is classified as a near-Earth object, according to the NASA  Joint Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

NASA deploys the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, spacecraft to defend Earth from these rocky fragments. The spacecraft is launched into an asteroid's core to deflect it from its original path.

Two more asteroids – Asteroids 2022 QX4 and 2017 BU – are expected to fly past the Earth on August 29.