Aircraft-sized asteroid to fly past Earth today! Close call predicted by NASA

On September 8, 2016, NASA launched a historic mission - the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx). It was launched to study a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) called Bennu, which has a 1/2700 chance of impacting Earth between 2175 and 2195. After a 6-year journey that involved landing on the asteroid and collecting samples from its surface, the spacecraft finally returned the samples last month, after which they underwent a “nitrogen purge”. Today, NASA will finally open up the canister returned by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and show off the asteroid sample to the world in an event that will be live-streamed. You can watch it online here.

Did you know that artificial intelligence (AI) is aiding in the discovery and study of asteroids? After aiding various industries across sectors such as education, healthcare, engineering and more, AI could also potentially help protect Earth against asteroids. According to a study published by the University of Washington, an algorithm, named HelioLinc3D, helped researchers discover a potentially hazardous asteroid. Asteroid 2022 SF289, which is almost 600 feet wide, was discovered during the algorithm's test in Hawaii and has not been deemed as dangerous in the foreseeable future.

NASA has several space and ground-based telescopes in place to discover, track, and study asteroids. But if you're a budding astronomer, you can help the space agency too! NASA's new Daily Minor Planet Project allows astronomers and skywatchers to help discover new asteroids and track them in data sets. To capture asteroids, the Daily Minor Project uses the NASA-funded, University of Arizona-based Catalina Sky Survey which captures nearly 1000 images every night. Due to this volume, NASA scientists fall short of personnel to study these images. After looking at the image, you just have to click on a yes or a no button and add a comment if necessary, before moving on to the next image.

Yesterday, it was reported that October could see the same amount of solar activity as the previous month. Currently, there are eight different active sunspot regions on the Earth-facing side of the Sun, and any one of them exploding could send terrifying coronal mass ejections (CME). In fact, that is what happened on October 3, when a sunspot exploded and caused a solar flare to erupt, which in the process, hurled a massive CME towards the Earth. Now, as per a NOAA forecast, this CME is expected to strike our planet on Saturday, October 7. Further, NASA has also shared a video of the event that shows the scary moment when the explosion takes place and the CME releases.

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Asteroids often pass Earth at close distances, posing a threat to the planet with their terrifying approaches. Most of them might seem like they're just floating rocks in space, but did you know asteroids have differing compositions? These space rocks can be classified into 3 types based on their structural composition. The most commonly found asteroids are S-type, which are made up of carbon-rich substances. On the other hand, S-type asteroids are made up mainly of silicate minerals and are less common. M-type asteroids are the least prevalent and they are primarily composed of metal.

Over the course of Earth's 4.5 billion-year-old history, there have been several major asteroid impacts that have had a significant impact on the future of the planet and helped humanity to emerge as a dominant force. Perhaps the most consequential impact occurred almost 65 million years ago when a mammoth 12-kilometer-wide asteroid crashed into the surface and obliterated nearly 70 percent of Earth's species including dinosaurs. The crater where the asteroid crashed can still be found today in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. Such large asteroids have the potential to cause global devastation if they crash. Fortunately, NASA and other space agencies now have an arsenal of space and ground-based telescopes to discover and track them.

NASA has been working on its Psyche mission for the last few years but hasn't been able to launch it yet. The space mission to the 16 Psyche asteroid has been delayed several times now, with the most recent happening on October 5. The $1.2 billion mission was set to launch via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of NASA's Discovery missions but was delayed, giving NASA more time to reverify parameters that control the rocket's nitrogen cold gas thrusters. For the unaware, the 16 Psyche asteroid is made up of gold, nickel, and iron deposits and is supposedly worth more than Earth's economy.

Asteroids are in constant focus of most space scientists due to their potential for causing global destruction. Asteroids are space rocks that follow distinct orbits in the vastness of space. According to NASA, some of these ancient cosmic rocks pose a potential threat of colliding with Earth. Although most of them reside in the primary asteroid belt situated between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, some of these space rocks approach Earth, with some coming within just a few hundred thousand kilometers of our planet. This proximity raises concerns about the possibility of these asteroids impacting Earth. And now, NASA has informed about a humongous asteroid that is traveling towards Earth rapidly. This is a 2200-foot asteroid that has been designated as 349507 (2008 QY).

Asteroids are massive space rocks that travel through space and worryingly, some of these also make a close approach to Earth. NASA tracks such asteroids and categorizes them as potentially hazardous or non-hazardous objects depending on their size and proximity to the planet. Now, a new study says that an asteroid can hit Earth in the next 159 years. Considering that an asteroid caused the extinction of dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, this is shocking news. Now, the prediction of an asteroid collision in the near future is scary. Know what the expert says about this asteroid impact.

After yesterday's close call with Asteroid 2023 SF6, which passed Earth at a close distance of just 1.4 million kilometers, yet another asteroid approach is expected today. NASA has now revealed that an asteroid is expected to just about miss Earth. While it isn't expected to impact the surface, it could pass by very closely. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO), which is responsible for monitoring the skies against the threat of rogue asteroids, has issued a warning against the close approach of an asteroid designated as Asteroid 2023 SW6.

Asteroids are huge space rocks that revolve around in their orbits in space. According to NASA, some of these ancient space rocks present a potential threat of collision with Earth while others can help discover secrets of space. While most of them are located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, these rocks often make close approaches to Earth as their orbits bring them within a couple of million kilometers of our planet. This presents a threat - could these space rocks somehow make their way to Earth? History has taught us that it certainly is possible. This can happen if an asteroid gets knocked off course, affected by a large planet's gravitational pull. Their orbits can also bring them extremely close to Earth.