The likelihood of the "God of Destruction" asteroid Apophis striking Earth in 2029 is more than 1 in 2 billion, according to Space.com. There's no cause for concern - at least not yet.

Every year, over 3,000 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) are found by NASA's survey telescopes. With the use of more powerful and sophisticated telescopes, the likely discovery rate will continue to increase. To date, over 36,000 NEAs have been discovered by telescopes that search the night sky, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

This year alone, the Earth has had several close encounters with large asteroids passing by, including:

Even though some of these asteroids pass the Earth millions of miles away, they will continue to be tracked and studied to predict their paths and how much of a threat they could be to Earth in the future, according to Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Asteroids larger than 330 feet in diameter have been predicted to strike Earth about every 10,000 years, according to NASA. Thankfully, no known large asteroids are expected to hit Earth anytime soon.

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How many asteroids have been discovered?

In the early 2000s, asteroid detections increased rapidly as a result of faster computer processors, better sensors and ever-improving motion detection algorithms, according to the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. New asteroids are discovered almost every year, according to the European Space Agency. As of Nov. 17, over 36,000 near-Earth asteroids have been discovered.

Where do asteroids come from?

The majority of asteroids are located in the main asteroid belt, which circles the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. There are billions upon billions of asteroids in the roughly 92 million-mile-thick asteroid belt, according to EarthSky.org.

What size are the asteroids we know about?

Asteroids can vary widely in size, with some less than 30 feet in diameter. Vesta, the largest known asteroid, also considered a protoplanet, is 330 miles across, according to NASA. That is roughly the same width as the entire state of Arizona.

Is NASA prepared for asteroids that could hit Earth?

Within the last few years, NASA has taken steps to protect humanity from threats posed by not only asteroids but also other inbound objects, such as comets.

In September 2022, NASA intentionally slammed a spacecraft into the small asteroid Dimorphos at roughly 14,000 mph. Though Dimorphos posed no threat to Earth, the mission served as the first demonstration of NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART. If an incoming asteroid is ever on a collision course with our planet, the space agency has said that the DART method could prove crucial for deflecting and changing the object's orbital path.

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NASA has also hosted a series of exercises to assess Earth's readiness to defend against space objects. The fifth exercise, organized by the Planetary Defense Coordination Office, involved around 100 international government representatives working through a hypothetical scenario about an inbound asteroid. NASA is also developing the NEO Surveyor telescope to discover 90% of asteroids and comets within 30 million miles of Earth's orbit.

CONTRIBUTING Eric Lagatta, Cybele Mayes-Osterman

SOURCE NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Center for Near Earth Object Studies, EarthSky.org and ScienceLive.com