A giant asteroid will fly past planet on Friday. NASA has named it Asteroid 2019 DN, and there will be a close approach on Friday. The asteroid is estimated to be between 91 and 200 meters wide, and it will pass our planet at more than 16,200 mph.
“NASA’s asteroid-tracking systems expect the asteroid to swing by the Earth on Friday, March 8. NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have narrowed this flyby down to 4.19pm GMT (UTC). When this happens, the asteroid will dash through space at hair-raising speeds of 7.27km per second or 16,262mph,” explained Express UK.
The good news is that we have nothing to worry about. The giant asteroid is traveling through space at more than 21 times the speed of sound, and it is taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Statue of Liberty. However, this space rock won’t touch our planet.
Giant Asteroid Will Fly Past The Earth On March 8th
“Very few of these bodies are potential hazards to Earth, but the more we know and understand about them, the better prepared we will be to take appropriate measures if one is heading our way. Knowing the size, shape, mass, composition, and structure of these objects will help determine the best way to divert a space rock found to be on an Earth-threatening path,” explained NASA.
That is not the first time NASA detects asteroids that swing by close to our planet. However, it is scarce that asteroids are an actual danger, since they rarely hit Earth.
The asteroid will fly past the Earth on Friday, and it is not expected to pass our planet in the near future again. Asteroid DN will fly next to us at a distance of around 5,18 million km (or 3.22 million miles).
