The beginning of 2022 will be marked by a large asteroid approaching Earth.
NASA rankings provide a clue as to whether or not to worry.
According to the US space agency, Asteroid 2014 YE15, first discovered in 2014, will approach Earth from a distance of about 7,400,000 km on January 6th.
As NASA considers objects larger than 150 meters and approaching Earth from a distance of 7.5 million kilometers as “potentially dangerous”, the “bus size” of seven meters – or “bus size” as Agency says – Asteroid 2014 YE15 is not considered a major threat.
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The end of the year will also be marked by an apparently greater danger as it passes through space – on December 29, an asteroid approximately 149 meters wide will come much closer to Earth, within 3,540,000 km. Asteroids appear in relative proximity to the planet every two days, and NASA monitors their movement and regularly updates a list of the next five asteroid approaches.
This, however, does not mean that they can be ignored. Even the little ones can cause problems. In 2013, a 20-meter-wide asteroid exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, releasing the same energy as about 26 to 33 atomic bomb explosions. Several buildings were damaged and around 1,500 people were treated for injuries caused by the side effects of the explosion.
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