Asteroids frequently make trips to Earth and although most of them burn up in the Earth's atmosphere itself, it is possible one could pass through and impact the planet.
Some have done so in recent years, but they have been small ones and did not leave behind a trail of destruction, except for a couple of them. But how big must an asteroid be, to end all life?
Well, NASA scientists estimate that an asteroid would have to be about 96 km wide to completely and utterly wipe out life on Earth.
Though smaller asteroids also have the potential to cause localized damage, commonly referred to as city-killers.
Unlike bigger ones which seldom stray towards Earth, smaller asteroids frequently fly close to the planet. Now, another one is on its way.
Asteroid 2022 UV14 was discovered just last month on October 27. It belongs to the main Apollo group of asteroids and takes 1254 days to orbit the Sun
during which its maximum distance from the Sun is 531 million kilometers and minimum distance is 150 million kilometers.