A Gigantic Asteroid Will Fly By Earth January 18

The NASA Center for Near Earth Object Studies has announced that a gigantic asteroid will fly by the Earth on January 18. The asteroid is estimated to be 3451 feet wide, which is about a kilometer. On a cosmic scale, the asteroid will fly by the planet at a relatively close distance.

On the realistic side of things, it will be extremely far from the planet, coming only 1.2 million miles from Earth. The asteroid is also moving extremely fast at an estimated 47,344 miles.

The asteroid was discovered in 1994 and was dubbed 7482 (1994 PC1). While there’s no risk of the asteroid smashing into our planet, it will pass by Earth closer than any other asteroid for the next 200 years.

NASA estimates the asteroid will make its closest approach to the planet on January 18 at 4:51 PM ET. The largest asteroid ever to fly by our planet did so in September 2017 and is estimated to be as big as 5.5 miles wide. It will pass by the Earth again in September 2057.