'Potentially Hazardous' Asteroid , to Zoom Past Earth.<br />'Newsweek' reports that a massive "potentially <br />hazardous asteroid," approximately the size of <br />the Empire State Building, is due to pass the Earth.<br />According to NASA's Center for Near-Earth <br />Object Studies (CNEOS), the asteroid is <br />estimated to be between 690 and 1,570 feet across.<br />The large asteroid will pass the Earth at a distance of <br />just about 0.01908 astronomical units, equal to about <br />1.77 million miles, a close call in astronomical distances.<br />The asteroid will make its flyby <br />on February 2, passing the Earth at <br />an estimated 40,700 miles per hour.<br />'Newsweek' reports that asteroids are rocks left <br />over from the formation of our solar system, which <br />can range in size from fairly small to enormous. .<br />Ceres, the largest known asteroid, <br />is a staggering 600 miles across.<br />The asteroid on the way to pass Earth is classified as <br />both a "Near Earth Object" (NEO) and a "Potentially <br />Hazardous Asteroid" (PHA) due to its size and trajectory.<br />There are 31,000 known solar system <br />objects that are considered NEOs, <br />while NASA is aware of 2,350 PHAs.<br />A potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) <br />is one that has an orbit intersecting <br />the Earth's orbit around the Sun by <br />less than 0.05 astronomical units<br />(1 AU is the distance to the Sun), <br />that's just over 4.5 million miles. , Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science <br />at the University of Leicester in the U.K., via 'Newsweek'.<br />It also has to have an absolute <br />brightness of 22.0 or less (lower <br />values of the magnitude are brighter = <br />larger objects), ie. an asteroid (or comet) <br />that would cause significant regional <br />damage if it hit the Earth. , Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science <br />at the University of Leicester in the U.K., via 'Newsweek'.<br />Not all NEOs are <br />potentially hazardous, but <br />all hazardous objects are NEOs, Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science <br />at the University of Leicester in the U.K., via 'Newsweek'
