Four 'killer' asteroids hurtling towards Earth today as NASA issues warning

Four large are passing by today, has said, but despite their huge size they are not expected to pose any danger to our planet.

The "potentially hazardous" asteroids, ranging from 100ft to 580ft, will skim past Earth within 12 hours of each other. The largest of them, dubbed 2002 NV16, is the size of a skyscraper and could potentially level a city with its destructive force.

The other rocks approaching our planet are 2015 HM1, 2024 TP17, and 2024 TR6. Asteroids 2002 NV16 and 2024 TR6 will make their closest approaches within just four minutes of each other, scientists have said.

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Two of the asteroids, 2024 TR6 and 2024 TP17, were only discovered earlier this month - respectively on October 7 and October 12. Three more asteroids, not classified as "potentially hazardous", will also be making a close approach today.

The asteroids will not be visible from Earth, but scientists may be able to capture radar images of the space rocks, which could help reveal more information on the objects. NASA constantly monitors asteroids and comets that make relatively close approaches to Earth as part of its Asteroid Watch dashboard.

It reveals the size of the object, the date of closest approach and distance from Earth. The "potentially hazardous" label is given by the dashboard to space rocks that are large than 150m and whose orbits bring them within about 48million km (30million miles) of Earth.

Finn Burridge, astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, told : "Scientists can calculate the orbits of Near Earth Objects to a high precision when they get bright enough to spot and so we know for certain that none of the objects passing Earth today could collide with the planet. Today is unusual in that we have 7 asteroids all making a close approach within a small timescale, but there is almost always an asteroid wandering somewhere near the Earth."

So far, around 25,000 large asteroids have been discovered as potential "city killers" but it is suggested that none of them pose any threat to Earth for another 100 years. Mr Burridge added that an asteroid that is about 200m could be "very bad news" if it hit a populated area. However, if it fell into the ocean or in the desert, its impact might not be as big, the expert added.

Earlier this year, a warned that "the is real" and the "consequences would be huge" as he urged people to think about how "there could be something coming". Planetary scientist Professor Dante Lauretta is the leader of NASA's OSIRIS-REx, the first US mission to collect a sample from an asteroid.

Talking to about the dangers asteroids pose to us here on Earth, Mr Lauretta said: "The risk of an asteroid impact is real. It's small. But the consequences are huge." He pointed to one terrifying incident to highlight the dangers. In February 2013, a meteor measuring around 19 meters in diameter and weighing tonnes sped toward Earth at 65,000 kilometres per hour and entered the atmosphere over Siberia, .

The asteroid blew apart 14 miles above the ground of Chelyabinsk. Locals witnessed a flash, sonic boom and glass shattering everywhere as the explosion released the energy equivalent of around 440,000 tons of TNT and the show wave blew out windows over 200 square miles and damaged some buildings.

Mr Lauretta noted: "The event in Chelyabinsk really showed us. That was a true asteroid impact over a populated area. It was a really small object, as these things go, but it still caused damage. Hundreds of people were injured, and the property was destroyed. It woke everybody up."

He continued: "That reminded me of the comet that struck Jupiter in 1994. Same kind of awareness. We live our lives with our heads down with all our daily struggles. But every once in a while, you look up, and you go, you know, there could be something coming, and maybe we should think about it. These kinds of high-profile events catalyse a lot more activity in these areas, absolutely."