Larger than the world’s tallest building Burj Khalifa, one kilometer wide in Dubai, a giant asteroid is estimated to pass by Earth today. It will be passing within 1.2 million miles of Earth, moving at 47,344 mph, reported NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, which tracks potentially hazardous comets.
First discovered in 1994, asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) will not hit Earth, but it will be closest for the next two centuries. This asteroid is expected to be closest to our planet at 4.51 pm.
“Near-Earth #asteroid 1994 PC1 (~1 km wide) is very famous and has been studied by our #PlanetaryDefense experts for decades. Rest assured, 1994 PC1 will be 1.2 million miles away from our planet next Tuesday, January 18th. Will take off,” NASA’s tweet reads.
NASA also shared the link to track the path of the asteroid. Here’s how you can track it: https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/asteroids/z
NASA also reported that, although significantly larger in size, 7482 (1994 PC1) is not the largest asteroid to have ever flown by Earth. Asteroid 3122 Florence (1981 ET3), an asteroid estimated to be between 2.5 miles and 5.5 miles wide, struck and missed Earth on September 1, 2017. It will make another pass on September 2, 2057.
This giant asteroid will be visible with a good telescope. Apart from this, anyone can see this asteroid on their gadgets through the NASA Eyes on Asteroid portal. It can also be tracked on the Virtual Telescope Project’s website.
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