When you purchase through contact on our site , we may gain an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .
An asteroid about as long as the Great Pyramid of Giza is marvelous will make a " close " approach with Earth on Sunday ( July 25 ) , according toNASAcalculations .
There is no worry that the space rock poses any threat toEarth , but NASA monitors such rocks to both get word more about the earlysolar arrangement — asteroid are rocky fragments from that clip — and because if their orbit were to change , the asteroid could pose a next peril to Earth .
3D illustration of an asteroid flying past Earth.
Related : Top 10 shipway to destroy Earth
On its closest overture , the near - Earth asteroid , called 2008 GO20 , will drop within 2.8 million miles ( 4.5 million kilometers ) of our low-spirited marble . It will be trek at a whopping 18,000 mph ( nearly 29,000 kilometre / h ) , according to news reports .
The rock’n’roll is estimated to be anywhere from 318 to 720 feet ( 97 to 220 meters ) across . ( The Great Pyramid of Giza place upright at 450 foot , or 138 m , improbable . ) Any space rock larger than about 490 animal foot ( 150 m ) across that is expected to make a shave with Earth within 4.6 million miles ( 7.5 million km ) is considered a potentially wild asteroid ( PHA ) ; NASA ’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies monitors all PHAs . For comparability , that distance is 19.5 times the pair between Earth and the moon .
And in realism , that distance does n’t defy a candle to the closest known flyby by an asteroid ( at least one that did n’t smash into us ) , which occur on Aug. 16 , 2020 , when 2020 QG zipped just 1,830 miles ( 2,950 kilometers ) above the Indian Ocean , Live Science sis siteSpace.com reported . Such little space rocks pose no risk to life on Earth .
— The 7 strangest asteroid : unearthly quad rocks in our solar system
— 10 interesting office in the solar system we ’d like to natter
— Crash ! 10 biggest impact craters on solid ground
On the other hired man , 2008 GO20 is " potentially hazardous " because over fourth dimension the gravitational tug of the planet could change the objective ’s orbital itinerary so that it crosses Earth ’s orbit . If that were to happen , a next hit with our planet is possible , NASA said .
This is n’t the first time 2008 GO20 has visit Earth ’s quarters . It made its close approach path on Aug. 4 , 1901 , when the asteroid swing out to 806,856 miles ( 1.3 million kilometre ) of our major planet , according to NASA record . Its next nigh flyby happened on July 31 , 1935 at a distance of 1.15 million miles ( 1.85 million km ) of Earth . When it next fly by Earth , on July 24 , 20342008 GO20 will get as close as 3.1 million miles ( 5 million km ) .
Originally published on Live Science .
