NASA predicts the speedy asteroid will make “close approach” to Earth on April 5. The space rock is flying our way at speeds of about 11.82 km per seconds or 26,440mph (42,552kmh).
At this rate, NASA said the asteroid will reach us by 12.02am GMT (7.02am EST) on Sunday, April 5.
First spotted in the solar system on February 17 this year, the object has been named Asteroid 2020 DT3.
The asteroid represents a family of objects racing around the Sun, known as near-Earth objects or NEOs.
NASA said: “Near-Earth Objects are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighbourhood.”
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The asteroid is also big and bright enough for asteroid trackers to consider it potentially hazardous.
Although the upcoming flyby poses no risk to Earth’s safety, there is a slim chance the gravitational push and pull of other objects in the solar system could influence DT3’s orbit.
NASA said: “Potentially hazardous asteroids are about 150 meters – almost 500 feet – or larger, roughly twice as big as the Statue of Liberty is tall.
“They approach Earth’s orbit to within 7.5 million kilometres – about 4.6 million miles.
“By comparison, when Mars and Earth are at their closest, they are about 53 million kilometres – about 33 million miles – apart.”
Even if an asteroid is deemed safe now, NASA said knowing their size, mass and composition can help protect the planet at a later date.
Potentially hazardous asteroids are about 150 meters
NASA
Asteroid DT3 is a relatively big object, although there are larger asteroids out there on more uncertain trajectories.
NASA estimates the space rock measures somewhere in the range of 459ft to 1,050ft (140m to 320m) across.
At the upper end of the scale, the asteroid is about as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
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At the lower end of the scale, the asteroid is still formidable and would tower over the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.
An asteroid this big would likely pack enough impact force to level a city.
NASA said: “If an object were to threaten Earth, it would only be necessary to move the object by one Earth radius, a very small distance in space terms.
“One idea suggested for a smaller asteroid is to anchor a shuttle-type engine onto the moving space rock and gently speed it up or slow it down.
“Another possible strategy would be to attach solar sails to a potentially hazardous body and allow the gentle pressure of sunlight to deflect the threatening asteroid away from Earth.”
But this particular asteroid poses no danger to Earth and despite making a close approach next month, it will still miss Earth by many millions of miles.
At its closest, DT3 will approach Earth from about 0.04509 astronomical units.
A single astronomical unit is the distance from our planet to the Sun – about 93 million miles (149.6 million km).
In other words, the asteroid will safely whizz by from a distance of about 4.19 million miles (6.74 million km).
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