Asteroid taller than Empire State Building shooting towards Earth at 11,200mph

Asteroid taller than Empire State Building shooting towards Earth at 11,200mph


A giant asteroid taller than the Empire State Building is set to skim the orbit of Earth this weekend.

NASA is tracking the rock - which goes by the less than catchy name of 163348 (2002 NN4) - and says it will zoom past our planet on Saturday (June 6).

The celestial body is estimated to be between 250m and 570m (820ft and 1870ft).

That makes it taller than the New York landmark (443m or 1453ft) and the London Eye (135m or 443ft) combined, reports the Daily Star.


According to SpaceReference.com, that makes it larger than 90% of asteroids.

NASA have classed 163348 (2002 NN4) as an Aten asteroid, which is a space rock following a very wide orbit around the Sun.


Researchers first spotted the asteroid in July 2002.

Scientists do not think it will collide with Earth, but it has been classed as a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" because, in space terms, it's predicted to have close passes with Earth.

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