It’s the biggest building in the world, but Dubai’s Burj Khalifa could be dwarfed by an enormous asteroid that's set to fly past our planet this week.
The asteroid, dubbed 52768 (1998 OR2), is estimated to measure between 1.8km - 4.1km in diameter. At the higher end of that estimate, it suggests the asteroid could be up to five times as big as the Burj Khalifa!
According to NASA, the space rock will make its closest approach to Earth at around 10:56 GMT on Wednesday 29 April, at which point it will be around 3.9 million miles from Earth.
While this might sound far, it’s classed as a ‘close approach’ by NASA.
During Wednesday’s passing, the asteroid will be travelling at staggering speeds of of 19,438 miles/hour - that’s around 9.5 times faster than a bullet!
NASA tweeted: “Asteroid 1998 OR2 will safely pass by Earth at a distance of 3.9 million miles/6.2 million km on April 29.
“Astronomers studying the #asteroid with radar are also keeping a safe distance - from each other! Just another day for #planetarydefense.”
If you want to watch Wednesday’s passing, The Virtual Telescope Project in Rome will host a free, online public viewing of the asteroid on April 29, 2020, so you can watch it here.
Thankfully, the chances of the huge asteroid colliding with Earth are extremely low.
However, NASA hasn’t written off the chances of an asteroid collision in the near future.
NASA discovers around 30 new ‘near-Earth objects’ (NEOs) every week, and at the start of 2019 had discovered a total of more than 19,000 objects.
However, the space agency has warned its NEO catalogue isn’t complete, meaning an unpredicted impact could occur at ‘any time.’
NASA explained: “Experts estimate that an impact of an object the size of the one that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 – approximately 55 feet (17 meters) in size – takes place once or twice a century.
“Impacts of larger objects are expected to be far less frequent (on the scale of centuries to millennia).
“However, given the current incompleteness of the NEO catalogue, an unpredicted impact – such as the Chelyabinsk event – could occur at any time.”
