Asteroid
NASA has approved the DART mission which aims to slam into an asteroid and knock it off its course. Pictured: A mosaic image of asteroid Eros at it's north pole, taken by the robotic NEAR Shoemaker space probe February 14, 2000 immediately after the spacecraft's insertion into orbit. After a year of circling and taking pictures, NEAR will touch down on asteroid Eros February 12, 2001, to capture surface details, which will be the first time any craft has tried to land on a tumbling space rock. Getty Images/NASA/Newsmakers

NASA has spotted a massive asteroid that’s currently headed towards Earth's direction. According to the agency’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the approaching asteroid is bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

The asteroid has been identified by CNEOS as 2019 SX5. As indicated in the agency’s database, this asteroid is approaching Earth at a speed of almost 49,000 miles per hour. It has an estimated diameter of 459 feet.

According to CNEOS, 2019 SX5 is expected to enter Earth’s vicinity on Oct. 10 at 7:07 pm EDT. During this time, the asteroid will fly past Earth from a distance of 0.04533 astronomical units or roughly 4.2 million miles away.

2019 SX5 has been classified as an Apollo asteroid. Like other Apollos, 2019 SX5 has a very wide orbit around the Earth and the Sun. Occasionally, 2019 SX5’s orbit intersects with that of Earth as the planet completes its cycle around the massive star.

Even though 2019 SX5 intersects the orbit of Earth, it is not in danger of colliding with the planet or approaching from a very close distance. As a result, the asteroid has not been labeled by CNEOS as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA).

“Potentially Hazardous Asteroids are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth,” CNEOS said in a statement. “Specifically, all asteroids with an Earth Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance of 0.05 [astronomical units] or less and an absolute magnitude of 22.0 are considered PHAs.”

The asteroid was first observed on Sept. 6. Based on CNEOS’ data on 2019 SX5, which dates back to 1901, the asteroid is known to approach Jupiter, Venus and Earth.

The last time the asteroid flew past Earth was on Dec. 19, 2016. During its approach, 2019 SX5 zipped past the planet from a distance of 0.39476 astronomical units or almost 37 million miles away.

After its visit on Thursday, the asteroid is expected to return to Earth’s neighborhood on Sept. 29, 2025. CNEOS predicted that 2019 SX5 will be about 0.14619 astronomical units or roughly 13 million miles from the planet’s center during its future approach.

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