An asteroid the size of four football fields has begun to approach its smallest distance from Earth.
Asteroid 349068 (2006 YT13) will pass Earth tonight at more than 50,000 mph.
The asteroid will fly past Earth tonight at 10:42 p.m., according to data released by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
This space rock is larger than most asteroids that come close to Earth.
About 1,600 feet in diameter, the asteroid is more than five times the size of the Statue of Liberty.
349068 (2006 YT13) will pass Earth at a distance of just over four million miles.
It’s classified as “potentially hazardous” because it’s set to within 4.65 million miles of Earth, but 349068 (2006 YT13) doesn’t pose any immediate threat to our planet.
The asteroid was first observed in 2006, but NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has calculated that the rock has passed Earth 28 times since 1900.
Asteroids of this size approach Earth about once a year, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The European Space Agency manages a list of asteroids and calculates their probability of hitting Earth.
There are nearly 1,400 asteroids on the “risk list”.
Forbes reports that an asteroid twice the size of 349068 (2006 YT13) has a 1 in 50,000 chance of connecting with Earth in 2880.
After approaching tonight, 349068 (2006 YT13) will slide into space.
The asteroid will next pass by Earth in August 2025.