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A skyscraper - sizeasteroiddiscovered two weeks ago will zoom between Earth and the lunar month on Saturday ( June 29 ) . At its confining approach , the space stone will go within some 184,000 miles ( 295,000 kilometers ) of our satellite — about three - quarters the medium space between Earth andthe moon .
The asteroid , describe 2024 MK , is estimated to measure about 480 base ( 146 meters ) across , which is big than the superlative of a 40 - fib building or theGreat Pyramid of Giza .
The potentially hazardous asteroid 2024 MK will sail between Earth and the moon on Saturday.
During its closest approach , it will be travel at roughly 21,000 mph ( 34,000 klick / h),according to NASA . Astronomers in South Africa key the asteroid on June 16 .
Although the hefty space rock pose no threat to Earth , NASAclassifies it as a " potentially wild asteroid " due to its great size and precarious range , which now and again crosses that of our satellite . curtly after its penny-pinching approach to Earth and the moon this weekend , 2024 MK will zoom along back out toward the asteroid knock between Mars and Jupiter , and will not return to our neighborhood until 2037 , according to NASA predictions . ( The blank rock ‘n’ roll wo n’t pose any threat to our satellite then , either . )
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ESA breaks down the 2024 MK close approach.
NASA monitors the orbital cavity of more than35,000 near - Earth objects(NEOs ) , which are space rocks that come within 120 million Admiralty mile ( 195 million km ) of the sun , often cut through Earth ’s orbit during their travels . presently , there are no known asteroids that put a threat to our planet for at least the next 100 years .
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The skinny approach of 2024 MK comes just days after an even larger asteroid called2011 UL21 blast past our planet . Measuring between 1.1 and 2.4 miles ( 1.7 to 3.9 kilometers ) widely , the good deal - sizing object flew by at 4.1 million miles ( 6.6 million km ) from Earth , or about 17 times the space to the moon . Despite this sizeable breathing room , 2011 UL21 was the bombastic asteroid to come that close to Earth in 110 years , according to the Virtual Telescope Project , whichlivestreamed the encounterThursday ( June 27 ) .
These back - to - back flybys befittingly lead World Asteroid Day , which is celebrated on June 30 . That date is also the day of remembrance of the1908 Tunguska asteroid impact , which demolish an estimated 80 million trees in Siberia over 830 hearty miles ( 2,150 square kilometer ) .
