Skyscraper-sized asteroid to safely pass Earth this Saturday
Asteroid 152637 (1997 NC1) will come within 1.6 million miles of Earth and may be visible with binoculars or small telescopes.
NASA is monitoring asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a chance of colliding with Earth in December 2032. AccuWeather’s Anna Azallion explains.
An asteroid estimated to be taller than the Empire State Building is expected to safely pass Earth this Saturday and will be visible to small telescopes and binoculars, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
Asteroid 152637 (1997 NC1), discovered in 1997, will fly past Earth at around 7:14 a.m. EDT with a zero chance of impact, according to the ESA. Its size is estimated to be from 750-1,650 meters (2,461-5,413 feet) wide, although other estimates say it could be smaller. NASA estimated its diameter to be about 947.41 meters (3,108 feet). The larger estimates suggest the asteroid could be about 1.7-3.7 times the height of the Empire State Building.
According to NASA, the asteroid will come within 2,565,841 kilometers (1,594,340 miles) of Earth, traveling at nearly 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) per second. At its closest point to our planet, it will be more than six times the distance between Earth and the moon, per the ESA.
An artist's concept of an asteroid approaching Earth. Credit: Erik Simonsen via Photographer's Choice/Getty Images Plus
“A close approach to Earth by an object this size only occurs every few years, although this time the bright nearby Moon might impede its observability at closest approach,” Juan Luis Cano, of the ESA Planetary Defense Office, said in a statement.
Those who wish to see the asteroid may be able to view it in parts of the Northern Hemisphere as it approaches, and in the Southern Hemisphere when it departs, according to Phys.org. However, people may only be able to see it if they step away from city lights, and they will need a telescope or binoculars.
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