A huge “potentially hazardous” asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower is hurtling towards Earth, NASA has warned.
A huge asteroid the height of the Eiffel Tower is hurtling towards earth, NASA has warned.
The space rock is three times the size of a football pitch and classed as ‘Potentially Hazardous Asteroid’ (PHA).
NASA space monitors say it’s set to pass Earth at speeds of up to 4000mph (1111kph) on December 11 – with any impact potentially devastating.
But thankfully the 329-metre long asteroid – named 4660 Nereus – doesn’t pose a threat to humanity.
It will travel about 2.4 million miles away from Earth – around ten times the distance between our planet and the Moon.
It’s larger than 90 per cent of asteroids, but tiny compared to the biggest, according to the website Space Reference.
Asteroid Alert
But the asteroid is set to return another 12 times in the next 175 years – with closer encounters to come.
It orbits the sun every 664 days and is due to pass nearby again in March, 2031 and November, 2050.
The nearest it will travel to Earth will be in February, 2060 when it travels just 750,000 miles (1,207,0000km) away, experts believe.
Nereus was identified in 1982 by US astronomer Eleanor F. Helin.
It’s a member of the Apollo group of asteroids known for crossing Earth’s path as it orbits the Sun.
It is so far away if a space mission were launched to reach it today it would take 426 days.
‘God of Chaos’
Last month, an asteroid the size of the Golden Gate Bridge passed by Earth.
The rock – named 1996 VB3 – had a diameter of 219 metres and travelled close to us on the evening of October 20.
It reached a minimum distance of around two million miles from our planet.
The largest asteroid to travel near Earth this year is “2001 FO32,” – known as Apophis, the “God of Chaos”.
It shot past in March with an estimated diameter of 335 metres.
This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission.
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