Scientists are describing the asteroid that NASA is tracking as a "near-miss." The asteroid is scheduled to pass Earth on Christmas Eve.
The 120-foot asteroid, known as 2024 XN1, is expected to pass over four million miles from Earth, meaning it shouldn't strike the planet.
From tiny to "stadium sized," asteroids can be headed toward Earth, and NASA has asteroid defenses in place in case of a major incident.
NASA has a number of technologies that keep an eye on space dangers, such as asteroids and other space debris that are predicted to approach Earth from any direction.
A "near-miss" is defined by NASA as occurring within 4.6 million miles, therefore the 2024 XN1 is hardly inside that range.
Only a small percentage of space debris even makes it past the "near-miss" threshold, despite the fact that a large amount of material spins with the Earth or originates from different regions of the galaxy.
Since the discovery of the asteroid that killed out the dinosaurs, people have been afraid of asteroids.
In particular, NASA Headquarters has a Planetary Defense Coordination Office that is responsible for tracking asteroids, determining the threat level, and setting up procedures in the event that a huge one were to approach Earth.
Satellites, radars, and sophisticated telescopes are used to monitor the movements of these space pebbles.
If an asteroid is 460 feet in size and travels within 4.6 million miles of Earth's orbit around the Sun, it is deemed dangerous.