An asteroid the size of a skyscraper will pass within 1.7m miles (2.7m kilometers) of Earth on Friday.
Don’t worry: there is no chance that it will hit us, as it will miss our planet by seven times the distance from the Earth to the moon.
Nasa’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies estimates the space rock to be between 690 and 1,575 feet (210 and 480 meters) across. This means that the asteroid could be similar in size to New York’s Empire State Building or Chicago’s Willis Tower.
The asteroid, discovered in 2008, is designated 2008 OS7. It won’t cross our path again until 2032, but it will be a much more distant encounter, 45m miles (72m kilometers) away.
The harmless flyby is one of several encounters this week. Three much smaller asteroids will also harmlessly buzz the Earth on Friday, no more than ten meters in diameter, with two more on Saturday. On Sunday, an asteroid about half the size of 2008 0S7 will pass by and stay 4.5m miles (7.3m kilometers) away.
