
Asteroid size of 10-storey building to fly past Earth today at 13,900mph
The asteroid, named 2022 YS5 by Nasa, is set to fly past us at a staggering 13,980mph on Thursday, July 17.
The US space agency confirmed that YS5 poses no threat to our planet – but at 120ft in diameter, similar in size to a 10-storey building, the asteroid is no small fry.
YS5 is going to pass Earth at a distance of about 2.58million miles. This may seem far away, but in cosmic terms, it's pretty close.
Thankfully, even at its large size, it's too small to be classified as 'potentially hazardous'.
Nasa will only use that classification if an asteroid is more than 275ft in diameter and passes within 4.6million miles of Earth, meaning YS5 falls short when it comes to size.
The space agency will closely monitor the asteroid, but at this point, it is not considered dangerous.
YS5 is considered an 'Apollo-class asteroid' because its orbit crosses the orbit of the Earth.
It orbits the sun every 369 days, five days longer than we take on Earth, More Trending
And Nasa predicts YS5's close pass comes only two days before our planet's next close encounter with an asteroid.
On Saturday (July 19) its Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicts another asteroid, named 2018 BY6 and almost double the size of YS5 at 210ft diameter, will come within 3.27million miles of Earth.
A much smaller asteroid, the 95ft diameter 2025 ME92, will come within 3.2million miles of us on Sunday, July 20, and then we'll have a break from close encounters until 2019 CO1 comes within 4.2million miles of us on August 8.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Uranus is hotter and leakier than we realised
MORE: 'Super-Earth' sending out strange signal over 145 light years discovered
MORE: Two black holes just smashed together into something 225 times the mass of our Sun

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Hundreds set to graduate from University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is gearing up to celebrate its class of 2025, with more than 2,600 students being recognised for their university's eight graduation ceremonies take place at the University of Wolverhampton at The Halls from Monday until Thursday. The students will join a community of more than 155,000 graduates in 130 countries across the world, becoming part of the university's global alumni individuals have also been nominated for an honorary award for exceptional contributions to their fields. This year's list includes astronaut Jannicke Mikkelsen, a graduate from the university, who has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Mikkelsen made history earlier this year by launching into space aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule from NASA's Kennedy Space served as the vehicle commander for the four-crew mission, which was a first-of-its-kind astronaut flight over Earth's poles. The space explorer has also worked in virtual reality filmmaking and extreme expedition a severe childhood accident that left her temporarily quadriplegic, she channelled her passion for technology and exploration into a thriving career in film and cinematography. Ms Mikkelsen directed the first live-concert film in virtual reality for Queen and produced documentaries with Sir David Attenborough. She also contributed to NASA projects, including a VR exhibit commemorating the Apollo 11 50th anniversary, and led a Guinness record-breaking circumnavigation of the Earth in under 48 gained a BA Hons Video and Film Production at the University of Wolverhampton. Another honorary award will go to Jai Herbert, a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter born in fighter, known as The Black Country Banger, will be awarded an Honorary Fellowship. Professor Ebrahim Adia, vice chancellor at the university, said: "We are an ambitious university that is proudly rooted in our communities. "We offer opportunity to all, regardless of background and that spirit of social mobility and aspiration to equip people with the skills they need to succeed in life and work runs through the heart of what we do." Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.


Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Rare fossil discovery reveals what dinosaurs sounded like
Growling dinosaurs in Jurassic Park have instilled fear in generations of children. But would these giant reptiles be so scary if they didn't growl at all, but chirped instead? Researchers in China have discovered a complete skeleton of an unknown dinosaur species, including its voice box. The find provides the first real clue as to what the extinct creatures sounded like. The two-foot-long dinosaur species, Pulaosaurus qinglong, has been named after Pulao, which is a small, loud-screaming dragon from Chinese mythology. The animal's fossils are so well-preserved that rare fossilised soft tissue has also been dug up, including structures in the larynx, or voice box. This is where scientists stumbled upon something unexpected. The dinosaur's larynx, with leaf-shaped, cartilage-like components, closely resembles those of modern birds. This suggests that Pulaosaurus could chirp, whistle, or even call, and not roar. The tiny dinosaur species were herbivores, only 28 inches long and walked on two legs. Their remains, more than 150 million years old, were discovered in the fossil hotspot of Yanliao Biota in northeastern China. We won't ever know exactly what the Pulaosaurus sounded like, though. Researchers explained: 'Due to the compression of the lower jaw of Pulaosaurus, its exact width is unknown, making acoustic calculations impossible.' But the discovery backs up growing evidence of bird-like voice boxes among dinosaurs. In 2023, the fossilised larynx of a different 16-foot armoured dinosaur, the Pinacosaurus, showed that extinct animal also chirped. The two species are only distantly related and separated by about 90 million years of evolution. This raises the possibility that chirping dinosaurs were not such a rare thing. Why is this discovery so rare? Researchers argue that the fragile voice box structures don't fossilise very often. More Trending They are also perhaps being wrongly classified as other parts of the throat. Despite going extinct around 66 million years ago, dinosaurs continue to unlock mysteries – even about human health. Scientists are hopeful they could develop new cancer cures thanks to dinosaur remains with tumours. Cancer experts at Anglia Ruskin University are studying tumours found in the fossil of a herbivorous Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus – known as a 'marsh lizard' – as it could help better understand the disease in humans. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Fan plays video game for 35,000 hours and then demands a refund MORE: Dog survives after 30-tonne boulder crashes into family's driveway MORE: China's new secret weapon is a flying ship dubbed 'the sea monster'


Scottish Sun
a day ago
- Scottish Sun
Stunning space snap hides rare ‘one-in-a-thousand' secret – and it may be the first time it has ever been seen by humans
The phenomenon could help prove a popular theory IN THE STARS Stunning space snap hides rare 'one-in-a-thousand' secret – and it may be the first time it has ever been seen by humans Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A STUNNING photo has captured a rare secret among the stars - and it could be the first time the phenomenon has ever been seen. Astronomers believe they have photographed the first ever birth of a supermassive black hole. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up While experts have gained an understanding of what these supersized giants are, they previously didn't know how they were created. A supermassive black hole weighs millions, to tens of billions, of Suns, and form the centre of almost every galaxy. It forms the gravitational centre for everything else - including stars and planets - to revolve around. However, scientists now believe they have seen a supermassive black hole being formed for the first time ever. 1 Three supermassive black holes can be seen in a newfound discovery Credit: NASA This could provide valuable insight into the space wonder. The process was captured in a pair of galaxies whose light has travelled for 8.3 million years according to Science Alert. The discovery was made by a Yale-led astronomy team, in a galaxy they've called "Infinity". Its name comes from its figure-eight shape, as three supermassive black holes can be seen as the galaxies collide. Within each galaxy a supermassive black hole can be seen at its nucleus, with a third glowing at their overlap. The team used a James Webb Space Telescope to observe the two recently-collided galaxies. CLOSE CALL 'It was a sign' - Clare girl, 10, spots surprise comet that 'shines brighter than Venus' Within the cloud of gas at its centre, they identified a supermassive black hole. Unusually, the black hole was not located at the nucleus of the vast galaxy, but rather in the middle of where they were colliding. This gave them an indication that they might be witnessing an unprecedented event. Yale astonomer Pieter van Dokkum said: "We think we're witnessing the birth of a supermassive black hole - something that has never been seen before." There are currently a number of theories regarding the formation of black holes. This includes the "light seeds" theory, in which small black holes are believed to have been formed when stars' cores collapsed and exploded. These smaller black holes are believed to have then merged into the supermassive versions. However, this theory has been somewhat debunked by research that found supermassive black holes that were born too early for this long-term merging to have taken place. Instead, the "heavy seeds" theory has been favoured by some astronomers. This argues that larger black holes can form when large clouds of gas collapse, although typically this is known to form stars. The Infinity galaxy could support the "heavy seeds" theory by showing how, in extreme conditions, a gas collapse could create a black hole. The team is pursuing ongoing research to confirm the findings.