No Cosmic Grinch: Asteroid 2024 XN1 to pass safely by Earth on Christmas Eve

NASA is set to track a sizable near-Earth object, asteroid 2024 XN1, which is expected to pass relatively close to Earth on December 24. According to Marca, the asteroid was detected only on December 12, when NASA and the European Space Agency's planetary defense systems noticed its approach.

Asteroid 2024 XN1 is approximately 120 feet long, making it the size of a 10-story building. ABP News reports that its diameter ranges from 29 to 70 meters (95 to 230 feet). The asteroid will pass Earth at a speed of 14,743 miles per hour (23,726 kilometers per hour).

Despite its size and speed, experts assure there is absolutely no chance of a collision. "It will be very far away, about 18 times farther from the Earth than the Moon, and so with this predicted path it won't come close enough to hit the Earth," Jess Lee, an astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, stated, according to Marca.

NASA revealed that asteroid 2024 XN1 will pass closest to Earth on December 24, at a distance of 4.48 million miles (7.21 million kilometers), as reported by ABP News. This distance is about 18 times the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, making the close approach significant in astronomical terms but not a cause for concern.

Marca also notes that the European Space Agency did not include asteroid 2024 XN1 in its "risk list" of objects that have a non-zero chance of colliding with our planet. After calculating its orbit, NASA and the European Space Agency classified asteroid 2024 XN1 as a "close approach," meaning it is expected to pass at a distance of 4.65 million miles (7.5 million kilometers) from Earth.

If asteroid 2024 XN1 were to collide with Earth, scientists estimate that the impact would be equivalent to 12 million tons of TNT, causing destruction over an area of 700 square miles (2,000 square kilometers), according to Newsbomb. Jess Lee drew a comparison to a past event: "If you want to compare it to a previous asteroid impact, the Tunguska event in Russia in 1908 involved an asteroid that was roughly similar in size to this one," she said, as reported by Marca. "It exploded above the ground and knocked down 80 million trees. Comparative energy estimates range from 3 to 30 megatons of TNT," she continued.

While the asteroid's upcoming pass is the closest in recent times, it will not come close to Earth again until January 2032, when it will approach to a distance of 3.1 million miles (4.7 million kilometers), according to Marca. Newsbomb adds that during its closest pass in December 2106, the asteroid will come even closer, reaching a minimum distance of 3.4 million kilometers.

NASA is closely monitoring the asteroid using modern tracking technology to better understand its path, as reported by ABP News. The Asteroid Watch dashboard provides information about all asteroids and comets that pass close to Earth or are about to collide with it. ABP News explains that this platform offers data about the nearest distance of asteroids from Earth, their size, and speed.

Asteroids like 2024 XN1 help scientists understand the early solar system. According to Navbharat Times, scientists are keeping an eye on this unique event occurring in space. Asteroids are celestial bodies that continuously orbit in our universe, and they are made of metal and rock. ABP News notes that asteroids are smaller than planets and larger than meteoroids.

The event of an asteroid passing near Earth is not new, and asteroid 2024 XN1 is the largest among the next five asteroids passing near Earth, as per ABP News. Despite the potential impact an asteroid could have, the odds of such an event happening are extremely low. Newsbomb reports that the European Space Agency predicts a collision probability of only one in 52,356.

While the asteroid will pass relatively close in astronomical terms, it will not be visible even to an amateur astronomer using their own telescope, according to Marca. "While this is good news for Earth, at this distance the asteroid will not be visible even to an amateur astronomer using their own telescope," the publication states.

This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq