An asteroid nearly the size of the Gold Gate Bridge is expected to zoom past Earth later this month.
It will be the largest and fastest asteroid to travel through our space this year, but it won’t get anywhere close enough to cause major concern.
The asteroid – 2001 FO32 – is smaller than the last big one about a year ago to make a short pass, but it will be three times closer, and much, much faster, NASA said in a statement.
It measures about 1,300 to 2,230 feet wide and is expected to pass Earth – albeit 1.25 million miles away – on March 21. The unusually fast rock will travel 77,000 miles per hour (that’s 21 miles per second).
It’s actually close enough to be officially considered an asteroid “near Earth” that is expected to give scientists a good view of a piece of rock that existed at the beginning of the universe.
“This is the closest predicted approximation in 2021 for any moderately large asteroid, where ‘moderately large’ means at least several hundred meters in size,” Paul Chodas, the director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, told CBS News.
Fans of the outdoor space could just get a glimpse of the zoom-by with a telescope in the backyard.
Observers using 8-inch or larger telescopes may be able to detect the asteroid rushing in front of stars, according to EarthSky.
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