CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA — An asteroid the size of a skyscraper or a stadium is scheduled to pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday.
According to NASA, it will happen around 9:41 a.m. ET.
It will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon, so there is no chance of it hitting us, but NASA still classifies it as “potentially hazardous.” Virtual Telescope Project to Live Stream Events.
Virtual Telescope Project via AP
People can’t see it with their own eyes, but NASA has a virtual image. asteroid tracker Displays the asteroid’s position in real time.
NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Research estimates that the space rock is between 690 feet and 1,575 feet in diameter. That means this asteroid could be as large as New York City’s Empire State Building or Chicago’s Willis Tower. NASA calls it “stadium-sized.”
According to Forbes, NASA gives the “potentially hazardous” label to objects that pass within 4.6 million miles of Earth and exceed 492 feet.
The asteroid was discovered in 2008 and appeared on Friday. 2008 Specified as OS7.
It will not return to us until 2032, but it will remain much further away, 45 million miles away.
This flyby is one of several encounters this week. On Friday, three much smaller asteroids will fly harmlessly around Earth less than a dozen yards across, and on Saturday, two more will hit Earth. On Sunday, an asteroid roughly half the size of 2008 0S7 will pass by, remaining 4.5 million miles away.
According to NASA, an asteroid is a relatively small, inactive celestial body that orbits the sun. Asteroids are usually composed of rock, dust, and metallic material. Most orbit within the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but some follow circular paths into the interior of the solar system (including near-Earth asteroids), and others remain outside the orbit of Neptune. There is also.