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A " potentially hazardous " Great Pyramid - sizeasteroidis about to whizz past Earth at around 48,000 miles per hour ( 77,300 km / h ) this workweek as it reaches its close point to our planet in more than 100 years . But the hefty space rock and roll poses zero danger of hitting us now or in the hereafter , data shows .
On Wednesday ( March 26 ) , at around 7:30 a.m. ET , asteroid 2014 TN17 will come within 3.2 million miles ( 5.1 million kilometers ) of Earth — or around 13 times further forth than the moon , fit in toNASA’sJet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) . This is the closest approach auspicate for the asteroid across almost 300 twelvemonth of JPL simulations , which let in computation of all of its flybys between 1906 to 2200 .
Asteroid 2014 TN17 is wider than the Great Pyramid of Giza is tall. If it ever impacted our planet it could wipe out a large city.
Researchers forecast that it is around 540 feet ( 165 metre ) astray . That is slightly wider than the elevation of Egypt ’s Great Pyramid of Giza and makes itlarge enough to pass over out a cityif it impact our planet . NASA classifies 2014 TN17 as " potentially wild " because of its size and periodic proximity to Earth . However , that does not mean it is grave .
Related : NASA ’s most wanted : The 5 most dangerous asteroids to Earth
During the upcoming flyby , the asteroid will be too far away to be keep with abackyard telescopeorstargazing opera glasses . However , it is large enough for research worker to study it and the blank rock is currentlyscheduledto be observe by NASA ’s GoldstoneSolar SystemRadar ( GSSR ) organisation in California , which specializes in remark nearby solar system objects as they pass on us by .
2014 TN17 will reach its closest approach to Earth on March 26. It hasn’t gotten this close to our planet since at least 1906, simulations show.
In recent years , the GSSR scope has help reveal theunusual " snowman " shapeof one asteroid , detectchanges in the orbital trajectoriesof another anddiscover a mini - moon orbitinga third . The upcoming observations could give similarly interesting insight about 2014 TN17 .
Close encounters
There are presently around 2,500 known potentially hazardous asteroid , consort to the International Astronomical Union’sMinor Planet Center . None of them are predicted to gain Earth anytime shortly . However , there are a few that will get quite close .
One such space rock is the potential urban center - killer whale asteroid 2024 YR4 , which made headline earlier this yr when the chances of it reach our major planet in 2032rose as gamey as 3.1 % . The betting odds of impingement havesince dropped to zero . However , there is still a slender chance that itmay crash into the moon .
Another asteroid that will have a near - fille of Earth is the hefty " god of pandemonium " asteroid Apophis , which will descend nigher to our major planet than some artificial satellite in 2029 . There is currentlyzero prospect of it rack up us . Some researchers warn that this could changeif its trajectory is altered by another asteroiden path — and we may not agnise if this has happened for several twelvemonth . However , this is very unlikely .
GSSR images of asteroid 2024 MK revealed that the space rock’s orbit had shifted after a close approach to Earth on June 29, 2024.
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In 2022 , NASA ’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test ( DART ) missiondemonstrated our ability to deflect potentially ravage impactsby flying spacecraft into oncoming asteroid to alter their trajectory . However , this method would expect forward-looking warning and lots of data point on the object asteroid , which make finding and tracking these potentially dangerous space rock and roll a anteriority .
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