Giant asteroid set to fly past Earth on April 19
- 7 years ago
SPACE — A whopper of a space rock is set to get up close and personal to Earth in the coming days. But fear not, it’s not on a collision course, so no asteroid apocalypse...yet.
A asteroid known as 2014 JO25 is roughly 650 meters across — that’s the height of the world’s second tallest building, or the length of six NFL football fields.
NASA reports that the massive rock will pass Earth at a safe distance of 1.8 million kilometers, or about 4.6 times the distance from the earth to the moon.
The asteroid will approach Earth from the direction of the sun, and is set to fly past on April 19.
With a surface twice as reflective as the moon, the asteroid will still be visible in the night sky for those using only small telescopes.
The rock will only be visible for one or two nights. It’s a rare opportunity for astronomers to study the massive specimen, which won’t be this close again for at least 500 years.
A asteroid known as 2014 JO25 is roughly 650 meters across — that’s the height of the world’s second tallest building, or the length of six NFL football fields.
NASA reports that the massive rock will pass Earth at a safe distance of 1.8 million kilometers, or about 4.6 times the distance from the earth to the moon.
The asteroid will approach Earth from the direction of the sun, and is set to fly past on April 19.
With a surface twice as reflective as the moon, the asteroid will still be visible in the night sky for those using only small telescopes.
The rock will only be visible for one or two nights. It’s a rare opportunity for astronomers to study the massive specimen, which won’t be this close again for at least 500 years.