This Christmas Eve, children all over the world may be hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa’s ship flying through the sky.
But NASA has warned that the old Saint Nick of the game will not be the only thing that will shake our heads on December 24.
A giant ‘Christmas’ asteroid the size of a 10-story building will pass Earth at 14,743mph.
According to NASA’s Asteroid Watch dashboard, asteroid 2024 XN1 should pass harmlessly within 4.48 million miles (7.21 million km) of Earth.
Although this will be a near miss in terms of astronomical conditions, experts say there is no chance that Christmas will be ruined by a collision with the giant rock.
Jess Lee, an astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, told MailOnline: ‘It will be very far away, around 18 times further from Earth than the Moon is, so the predicted trajectory is not close enough to reach Earth. .’
But at 29 to 70 meters (95-230 ft) in diameter, this is a powerful reminder of how close Earth can be to deadly war.
If 2024 XN1 reaches Earth, scientists estimate that it will impact with the force equivalent to 12 million tons of TNT and destroy an area of 2,000 square kilometers.
NASA has warned that the ‘big Christmas asteroid’ will pass Earth on December 24 at 14,743mph (stock photo)
The Christmas season was only seen on December 12 when NASA and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) planetary defense instruments detected its approach.
After calculating its path, the agencies labeled it a ‘close approach’ – meaning it is expected to pass within 4.65 million miles (7.5 million km) of Earth.
2024 XN1 will make its closest approach to Earth at 02:56 am GMT on Christmas morning.
However, based on the size of the asteroid and its distance to Earth, ESA only rates this as a ‘very rare’ approach.
Also, the ESA has not included 2024 XN1 on the ‘Lisk List’ of objects that cannot collide with Earth.
This means that, even when passing through the solar system, there is no chance of a Christmas asteroid hitting the Earth.
And while that’s good news for Earth, at this distance the sky can’t even be seen by a novice astronomer using their own telescope.
However, even for a small asteroid, the consequences of an impact could be devastating.
Asteroid 2024 XN1 (pictured) is as big as a ten-story building and could be as high as 70 meters (230 ft) according to European Space Agency estimates.
Eventually, the asteroid will pass within 7.21 million kilometers of Earth. This is an astronomical near miss but no collision risk
Ms Lee says: ‘If you want to compare it to previous asteroid impacts, the Tunguska Event in Russia in 1908 involved an asteroid that was similar to this one.
‘It exploded above the ground and felled 80 million trees. Estimated power to estimate 3-30 megatons of TNT’.
After celebrating next week, 2024 XN1 will not come close to Earth again until January 2032.
During this approach the rock will come very close, reaching a distance of 3.1 million kilometers (4.7 million miles).
However, the Christmas asteroid will make its closest pass in December 2106 when it will pass Earth at a distance of 3.4 million kilometers.
2024 XN1 won’t be the only space rock to visit Earth this Christmas.
On December 23, a small space rock named 2013 YB has a small chance of hitting Earth.
However, under 3m (10ft) in diameter, this stone can burn in the air, creating nothing more dangerous than a bright fire.
The Earth is constantly passing by large space rocks, some of which (photographs) have a chance to collide with the Earth. If an asteroid the size of 2024 XN1 were to hit Earth, it would explode with the force of 12 million tons of TNT.
Although the chances of this happening are very low as the ESA only predicts a one in 52,356 chance of impact.
On Christmas Day alone, a massive asteroid called 2021 BA2 will make a spectacular pass by Earth.
Based on its brightness, the ESA estimates that this stone could be between 30 and 70 meters (100-230 ft) in diameter – making it a ‘city killer’.
At 21:19 pm GMT on Christmas Day, 2021 BA2 will make its closest approach to Earth, passing at a distance of just 2.76 million kilometers.
But at seven times the distance to the moon, the space agency predicts that there is no danger that the space and the planets will collide.
The season of the largest asteroid to pass Earth is not until January 5, 2025, when a 400m (1,310 ft) asteroid will fly past Earth.
This Eiffel Tower stone will blast off Earth at 49,660 miles per hour (79,920 kmph), coming as close as 2.29 million miles (3.68 million km) from Earth.
