Massive Asteroid , Set for Closest Approach , to Earth Since 1914.<br />On August 20, a humongous asteroid larger <br />than Giza's Great Pyramid will pass by <br />Earth for the first time in over 100 years.<br />On August 20, a humongous asteroid larger <br />than Giza's Great Pyramid will pass by <br />Earth for the first time in over 100 years.<br />'Newsweek' reports that the asteroid, <br />named 2019 AV13, is forecast to pass Earth <br />at a speed of about 20,000 miles per hour.<br />It is expected to pass at a distance <br />of about 3.2 million miles.<br />The last time the asteroid passed <br />this close to Earth was in 1914.<br />The next time it will approach <br />this close to our planet <br />will be in the year 2113.<br />'Newsweek' reports that most asteroids originate in the Asteroid Belt orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.<br />Asteroids in the belt range in size from a few feet to the enormous Ceres which is 600 miles in diameter.<br />As gravitational interaction pulls asteroids <br />toward the Sun, it occasionally sends <br />them on a course near the Earth.<br />The 100 year interval between events <br />is purely a statistical construct based <br />on the number of objects of a particular <br />size, their orbits and an arbitrary miss <br />distance, so 100 years is an average. , Jay Tate, director of the The Spaceguard <br />Center observatory, via 'Newsweek'.<br />In fact it is just as likely that we'll <br />have another similar close approach <br />next year as we will in a century, Jay Tate, director of the The Spaceguard <br />Center observatory, via 'Newsweek'
