An asteroid travelling at 29,000mph will pass by our planet tonight in what NASA has described as a 'near-Earth' approach.
Asteroid 2023 JD2 is classed as 'potentially hazardous' because of how big it is, and how close it will get to Earth. It's estimated that it's around the size of the Big Ben at around 200 ft large, and it'll fly past our planet just 3.4 million miles away.
It's set to appear at around 8pm tonight (Tuesday May 16) and is one of around 1,500 'potentially hazardous' asteroids that are currently known about.
Wales Online reports that an asteroid is a small rocky object that orbits the Sun.
These celestial bodies are remnants from the early formation of the solar system, often referred to as "minor planets."
Asteroids can come in a huge variety of sizes, from a few metres to hundreds of kilometres, and they're mostly made up of rock and metal.
Most of them are located in the asteroid belt, which is an area between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
But asteroids can also be found in other places in our solar system such as the Trojans, which share the orbit of Jupiter, and near-Earth asteroids, which have orbits that pull them relatively close to Earth.
Asteroids come in a number of different shapes, from irregularly shaped rubble piles to more spherical structures.
They are divided into different types based on how they're made up, such as carbonaceous (C-type), silicate (S-type), and metallic (M-type) asteroids.
While most asteroids orbit harmlessly in space and do not pose any risks, there is a small possibility that some could collide with Earth. These are known as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs). Scientists and space agencies closely monitor and study asteroids to better understand their composition, orbits, and potential risks.
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