Can near-Earth object be DANGEROUS? Here is how NASA wants to stop scary comets, asteroids

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Galaxies, planets, stars, Sun, Asteroids, Moons, and what not! Space is full of so many objects. Even every object has some other near object. Earth too has objects near it, which even sometimes gets attracted towards the planet because of its gravitational pull. Though, not every near-Earth object manages to reach the surface of the planet. The object needs to be large enough to survive the fire that starts by entering the atmospheric layer of Earth. But wait, do you know what is a near-Earth object?

Asteroid or comet that can pass within 30 million miles or 50 million kilometers of Earth's orbit are known as near-Earth object or NEO. According to NASA, "A near-Earth object (NEO) is an asteroid or comet whose orbit brings it within a zone approximately 121 million miles (195 million kilometers) from the Sun, meaning that it can pass within about 30 million miles (50 million kilometers) of Earth's orbit."

NASA further informed that the vast majority of NEOs that enter Earth's atmosphere disintegrate before reaching the surface (and more than 100 tons of dust particles disintegrate in Earth's atmosphere daily), those NEOs that are larger than around 98 to 164 feet (30 to 50 meters) in size and could cause widespread damage in and around their impact sites. A potentially hazardous object (PHO) is a near-Earth object whose orbit brings it within 4.7 million miles (7.5 million km) of Earth's orbit, and is greater than 500 feet (140 meters) in size.

Also Read: Forget asteroids, comets, solar storms, NASA is EXCITED about this

It can be known that like the planets, asteroids and comets also orbit the Sun. Some of the smaller moons of other planets may be captured asteroids. Most asteroids are in what is called “the main belt”