NASA Warns Asteroid Larger Than Empire State Building Headed Towards Earth This Weekend

An asteroid the size that could be taller than the Empire State Building in New York is approaching Earth at more than 18,000 miles per hour and will arrive at its closest to Earth this weekend.

The asteroid, dubbed 388945 (2008 TZ3) is the largest of five asteroids to approach Earth between Friday and Monday, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL). NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) estimates the asteroid is between 220 and 490 meters long. For reference, the Empire State Building is about 443 meters (1,453 feet) tall.

Asteroid 2008 TZ3 is also covering 8.22 kilometers of space every second, a speed of about 18,388 miles per hour.

Luckily, the asteroid is expected to miss Earth by about 3.6 million miles when it passes at around 5:18 p.m. EST on Sunday.

 

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