An asteroid (space rock) identified as 2019 UJ3 is all set to come dangerously close to the Earth on October 31 (on the Halloween day) at a staggering speed of nearly 20,000mph, according to NASA.
The speedy asteroid is expected to swing by on a so-called “Earth close approach trajectory”. According to NASA, the asteroid’s closest approach will occur on the afternoon of Halloween, October 31. When this happens, NASA estimates the space rock will reach speeds of about 19,215mph (30,924kph).
Asteroid 2019 UJ3 is believed to measure somewhere in the range of 55.7ft to 124.6ft (17m to 38m) across.
The asteroid might seem small but objects about this size have caused considerable chaos in the past.
In 2013, for instance, a 65.6ft-wide (20m) rock entered the atmosphere undetected and exploded over Russia’s Chelyabinsk Oblast.
The resulting arblast blew out windows in a wide radius and injured more than 1,000 people with shards of broken glass.
