NASA Asteroid Tracker: 127-Foot NEO Approaches Earth For First Time Ever Today

NASA is closely monitoring a massive asteroid that’s currently on a near-collision path with Earth for the first time. According to the data collected by the space agency’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the approaching asteroid is almost as big as the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.

As indicated in CNEOS’ database, the asteroid, dubbed as 2019 KG3, was first observed by NASA on May 29. It is currently travelling with a velocity of 15,000 miles per hour, which is 10 times faster than an F-16 fighter jet’s maximum speed.

According to CNEOS, 2019 KG3 has a maximum diameter of around 128 feet. It is expected to approach Earth on June 11 at 6:15 am ST. Once it enters Earth’s surrounding area, the asteroid will be about 0.04159 astronomical units or around 3.9 million miles away from the planet.

Although the 2019 KG3 is pretty big and is currently moving at an alarming speed, asteroids that share the same dimensions do not pose a direct threat to Earth. Even if it is on a direct collision path with the planet, the asteroid will most likely explode in the atmosphere, leaving smaller fragments that would detonate mid-air.

According to the projections made by CNEOS, 2019 KG3’s next visit will be on May 13, 2073. By this time, the asteroid is expected to approach the planet at a much farther distance of 0.25858 astronomical units, or around 24 million miles away.

2019 KG3 is only the first asteroid from a group of seven other space rocks that are scheduled to zip past Earth this week. Within the next couple of days, different asteroids with varying sizes and speed will be closely approaching Earth’s surrounding area. The biggest asteroids of the group are 2013 YA14 and 2019 KJ, which are both 361 feet long.

The asteroids will approach Earth from varying distance but the closest one will be 2019 LU. According to CNEOS, this asteroid will fly by the planet within a distance of only 0.01057 astronomical units, or about 983,000 miles. 2019 LU is scheduled to approach Earth on June 16.