Asteroid set to pass by Earth about as close as the moon
An asteroid is set to pass near Earth at a distance just greater than the distance between the Earth and the moon. Approximately the size of a bus, according to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the asteroid named 2023 HV5 will approach Earth at a distance of approximately 270,000 miles, Newsweek writes. For reference, the moon is approximately 240,000 miles away from Earth.
Despite appearing to not be that close, this is considered a near-Earth object (NEO) in the context of outer space, especially since the asteroid will be moving at 20,000 miles per hour. NEOs are "generally defined as an asteroid or comet that approaches our planet less than 1.3 times the distance from Earth to the Sun," and for the most part, tend to not be a threat, per NASA. They also "may provide needed raw materials for future interplanetary exploration" and "some should also be fairly easy to land on for future exploration."
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2023 HV5 is not considered to be potentially hazardous because of its size. In fact, there are no NEOs in the next 100 years that are predicted to hit Earth.
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