A massive "possibly hazardous" asteroid the size of the Empire State Building is expected to fly through Earth tonight.
The asteroid, known as 418135 (2008 AG33), is projected to have a diameter of 1,150 to 2,560 feet (350 to 780 meters) and will enter Earth's orbit at a speed of 37,400 kilometers per hour (23,300 miles per hour).
The asteroid is projected to pass Earth at 10:46 pm ET on Thursday (April 28), Daily Mail reported.
It will arrive within around 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) of Earth at its closest point, traveling at more than 30 times the speed of sound, roughly eight times the usual distance between Earth and the moon.
It may appear to be a significant distance, but by cosmic standards, it is only a stone's throw away.
Any space object approaching Earth within 120 million miles (193 million kilometers) is classified as a "near-Earth object," and any fast-moving object approaching Earth within 4.65 million miles (7.5 million kilometers) is considered "possibly hazardous."
Once the objects have been identified, astronomers watch them, looking for deviations from their anticipated paths that could lead to a collision with Earth.
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The New York Post said asteroid surveyors at the Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory in Arizona detected Thursday's asteroid in January 2008. Deseret News added that the space rock will pass by Earth on May 25, 2029.
In March 2015, it made its most recent pass over the Earth. Once every seven years, an asteroid passes by our planet on its way around the Sun.
There's been some hype about asteroid 2008 AG33 which is going to "Zip" past Earth on April 27 at only 8.4 Lunar Distances. The asteroid is 5x bigger than the London Eye, or twice as tall as the Empire State Building, or 217.4 giraffes. pic.twitter.com/LdWOAinlZ1
— Tony Dunn (@tony873004) April 22, 2022
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The asteroid 2008 AG33 will complete one round in its orbit in eight years, with Earth on one side and Mars and Jupiter on the other.
Because it is a relatively close object, this Apollo-class asteroid has been designated as possibly dangerous.
It should, however, simply pass through the planet. It will approach Earth at a distance of 2,010,000 kilometers.
If it collides with Earth, it could wreak extensive devastation and a series of powerful earthquakes and tsunamis.
The asteroid that collided with Earth on Thursday may not be the biggest space rock to pass by in the coming weeks, Live Science pointed out.
When it passes us on May 9, 2022, it will most likely be 467460 (2006 JF42), which has an estimated diameter of 1,247 to 2,822 feet (380 to 860 m) and will be traveling at 25,300 mph (40,700 km/h).
Detecting Potentially Harmful Asteroids
Only about 40% of potentially deadly large asteroids have been tracked by NASA, Astronomy Magazine said. A celestial object with a diameter of 0.6 miles can create worldwide consequences and catastrophic extinctions.
The most renowned and catastrophic asteroid, measuring 6-miles in diameter, collided with Earth 65 million years ago, wiping out the majority of plant and animal life.
According to Space.com, if an asteroid were to strike Earth, NASA has a variety of defense systems at its disposal, including the 1,210-pound DART spacecraft, which can divert asteroids.
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