Two asteroids to fly past Earth today; here's why there is no need to panic

A couple of asteroids will fly past Earth on Friday, NASA has confirmed. However, there is no reason to panic as the space rocks will not crash into the Earth despite making a "close approach", the US-based agency has said. Here is what you should know about the "planetoids" that will fly past Earth today.

1. Asteroids are small bodies that orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter in a ring called the asteroid belt. Scientists have identified more than 1 million asteroids to date, according to NASA. They cause a threat to Earth and other planets of the solar system as they make a free fall towards the star, threatening to crash into planets if they happen to stand in its way.

2. The two asteroids have not been classified as "potentially hazardous" by NASA. The tag is usually given to all space objects including asteroids and comets if they make a relatively close approach to Earth.

3. 'Asteroid 2022 QH8' is the first of the two asteroids that will be passing the planet today. It will pass Earth at a distance of 4.05 million kilometres and a speed of 15 kilometres per second, the Hindustan Times said in a report.

4. The other named 'Asteroid 2022 SK1' is travelling at the speed of 8 kilometres per second and is believed to fly past Earth at a distance of 2.71 million kilometres.

5. However, NASA has a bigger mission in hand than watching these two rocks up close. The space agency is busy gearing up to crash a spacecraft intentionally into another asteroid named "Dimorphos". Although this asteroid is also posed to cause no threat to humankind, NASA has decided to use it as an opportunity to prove space rocks can be deflected by crashing something intentionally into them.

6. NASA will carry out the Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) on September 26 -- the date when the spacecraft will collide with "Dimorphos". By pushing the asteroid further away from Earth, NASA intends to prove its ability to shield the planet from potential asteroid collisions in future, reports said.