The danger that such a wandering body will impact the Earth and end up destroying civilization has been reflected in literature, movies, and even pseudosciences.
Asteroids are minor bodies in the Solar System that are mainly composed of silicates and metals, as well as having very varied and irregular shapes. They are usually small, from a few meters to tens of kilometers and if they pass at a distance from the Sun less than 1.3 times the distance from the Earth to our astro, they are considered near asteroids, Near Earth Asteroids, (NEA for its acronym in English) . In fact, they can be considered potentially dangerous if they pass close to Earth in their orbit.
Almost all asteroids are in a specific area between Mars and Jupiter known as the asteroid belt . Recently another zone of minor bodies was discovered orbiting, the trans-Neptunian or Kuiper belt.
Since 2006 asteroids are included within the so-called “minor bodies of the Solar System along with comets and any solid that orbits around the Sun and is smaller than a dwarf planet.
