The asteroid, dubbed by NASA Asteroid 2019 BC3, will make a so-called “Earth Close Approach” tomorrow. NASA’s asteroid trackers have narrowed down the asteroid passage to 5.59pm GMT on Thursday, January 31. When this happens, Asteroid BC3 will swing by the Earth at incredible speeds of more than 29,500mph or 13.22km per second. Thankfully, there is nothing to worry about, since the close brush will still see the asteroid miss Earth by nearly three million miles (4.67 million km).
But the asteroid’s sheer size and speed are a force to be reckoned with – enough for NASA to pay close attention.
According to the US space agency, the asteroid is what astronomers call a “Near-Earth Object” (NEO).
NEOs are all asteroids and comets on orbital trajectories which bring them dangerously close to our home world.
NASA explained: “As they orbit the Sun, Near-Earth Objects can occasionally approach close to Earth.
