Asteroid 2024 GX3 flew past Earth at 0.18 LD

A newly-discovered asteroid 2024 GX3 flew past Earth at a distance of 0.18 LD / 0.00048 AU (71 560 km / 44 465 miles) from the center of our planet at 08:27 UTC on April 10, 2024. This is the 27^th known asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year.

This <1LD flyby was preceded by 2024 GV2 at 0.28 LD on April 9 and followed by 2024 GJ2 at 0.05 LD on April 11.

2024 GX3 was first observed at Catalina Sky Survey, Arizona on April 11 — one day after its close approach to our planet.

The object belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and has an estimated diameter between 3.2 and 7.1 m (10.5 – 23.3 feet).

Featured image credit: CNEOS