On Saturday, June 29, 2024, an asteroid named 2024 MK will safely pass by Earth. This asteroid was first spotted by South African astronomers two weeks ago and is estimated to be between 393 feet to 853 feet (120 to 260 meters) wide. The asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at 9:46 AM EST (13:46 GMT), flying by at about three-quarters the distance from Earth to the moon.
The majority of asteroids in our solar system are primarily located in the Asteroid Belt, which is situated between Mars and Jupiter. After Jupiter formed, its massive gravity prevented these space rocks from forming into more planetary bodies, leaving behind the Asteroid Belt as a rocky world in its place.
Asteroids are primarily made of rock, with some containing clay, silicate, and different metals such as nickel and iron. The largest known asteroid is Ceres, which is about one-quarter the size of the moon.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission collected samples from the asteroid Bennu and returned them to Earth in 2015. In addition to this, scientists observed water gullies on the asteroid Vesta caused by a smaller asteroid impacting it and melting trapped water ice that trickled onto the larger asteroid causing water trails in the rocks.
