Whoa! Another asteroid whizzes past Earth hours after discovery – EarthSky

There are thousands of near-Earth asteroids in the inner solar system, as depicted in this graphic. Some known and some unknown. Another asteroid discovered by the same astronomer to discover 2022 EB5 in early March made a close pass with Earth in the early hours of March 25, 2022. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ Wikimedia Commons.Another asteroid whizzes past Earth overnight

Overnight on March 24-25, 2022, another small asteroid raced toward Earth, unseen until hours before its closest approach. Hungarian astronomer Krisztin Srneczky, same astronomer who first spotted asteroid 2022 EB5 earlier this month hours before it hit Earth near Iceland, found this new asteroid, too. He caught it just hours before it sped by Earth. This asteroid is labeled Sar2594. Its close encounter with Earth came at 8:10 UTC or 3:10 a.m. CDT.

This time, instead of a collision, the space rock slipped through Earths shadow.

It passed at a distance of about 5,400 miles (8,700 km). Thats in contrast to the moons distance of 238,900 miles (384,000 km).

Sar2594 is categorized as a Near-Earth Object, or NEO. It raced by at about 40,265 miles an hour (18 km/s).

Sar2594 now has an official designation: 2022 FD1. Srneczky says the asteroid is about 2-4 meters in size. This could put it in the running for the smallest asteroid known. The current record holder is 2015 TC25, which is approximately 6 feet or 2 meters in diameter.

The asteroids flyby of Earth changed its course. Srneczky and Tony Dunn share charts and simulations of 2022 FD1s inclination:

Bottom line: Another asteroid whizzes past Earth hours after discovery. The asteroid, Sar2594, was discovered by the same astronomer, Krisztin Srneczky, who discovered 2022 EB5, which impacted near Iceland earlier this month.

Kelly Kizer Whitt has been a science writer specializing in astronomy for more than two decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine, and she has made regular contributions to AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club, among other outlets. Her childrens picture book, Solar System Forecast, was published in 2012. She has also written a young adult dystopian novel titled A Different Sky. When she is not reading or writing about astronomy and staring up at the stars, she enjoys traveling to the national parks, creating crossword puzzles, running, tennis, and paddleboarding. Kelly lives with her family in Wisconsin.

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Whoa! Another asteroid whizzes past Earth hours after discovery - EarthSky