“Asteroid Raksasa 12 Juta Ton: Penemuan Menjanjikan”

NASA recently announced details about a large asteroid set to pass by Earth on Christmas Eve. Known as Asteroid 2024 XN1, it is as big as a 10-story building with a diameter ranging from 29 to 70 meters. The space rock will come within 7.21 million kilometers of our planet. Discovered on December 12 by NASA and the European Space Agency’s planetary defense system, the asteroid has been classified as a “close approach” object due to its proximity of 7.5 million kilometers to Earth. Experts assure that there is no chance of a collision with Earth, as the asteroid will be about 18 times farther away than the Moon’s distance. Despite its massive size, if Asteroid 2024 XN1 were to impact Earth, it would have the equivalent force of 12 million tons of TNT, obliterating an area of 700 square miles. The asteroid will not be visible in the night sky to astronomers and is expected to approach Earth again in January 2032.